The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-07
Pixies PEAKS GREAT TUNNEL.
To he Completed in seven Years and
Cost S2O,09O,OOO.
st. Louis Globe-DemOcrat.

ST. Louis Globe Democrat.
Two gangs OF workmen have just begun
digging in Colorado the longest tunnel
which man ever attempted TO construct.
The main bore viii be twenty miles long.
and. connecting with this are subsidiary
tunnels with a total length OF thirty miles
So, in reality, the task that has been put
under way IS that OF digging 6lty mics OF
tunnels, and every foot OF this vast system
will be under Pixies Peak and the noun
tains that tower on each side.
The starting point of the main tunnel IS
Pixies Peak near the old town of Colorado
City. This point is but IA short distance
from the railroads which span the country
between Colorado Springs and Manitou~
From here it runs almost due southwest.
of the mountains at Four-mile creek over
III Fremont county, Colorado. six miles
south of Cripple Creek and near the little
town of Sunol. Two gangs OF men, as
stated are working ON the tunnel one at
each end. Just at present they are making
progress at the rate of thirty feet day.
1t is believed that the mammoth task they
have undertaken will be completed in seven
years from the first of the present month.
The main tunnel will pass directly under
the cone of Pixies Peak at a depth OF near
ly 1000 feet, and 2,700 feet beneath the town
of Victor Its average depth from the sur
face will be $500 feet, and il is designed 10
test the mineral deposits of the territory
at these great depths. Thirty miles OF
laterals are contemplated, and these VIII
pass underneath all the Cripple Creek dis
trict at an average depth OF 2ScO feet.
Cripple Creek, Victor. Gillette, the various
small towns and a thousand mines are 10
be made tributary TO this vast system OF
subterranean passages.
Under present circumstances the distance
the shortest way--from Colorado Springs
to Cripple Creek is nfty-four miles. by way
of the tunnel the two cities will be only
sixteen miles apart.
1t is estimated by the contractors that the
average cost per foot of excavation VIII be
$50. This makes the total probable expense
of digging the tunnel and its subsidiary
branches 500, 520, COO All of this sum the
tunnel people expect 10 crush out of the ore
their wOrkmen viii break while eXcavating,
or CLEAN from the nuggets which may 1al
out of secret pockets so lar below the
earth's surface.
Another, object of the tunnel which is of
the greatest Importance, is the fact that
the whole fifty miles will act as great
drainage system for the entire mining sec
ton of Cripple Greek and vicinity. Beneath
the flooring of the tunnel is concrete
waterway four by four feet, and into TINS
will flow the water from the countless
springs that honeycomb great section OK
the country.
Experts making calculations on the basis
of moisture as afforded by Cripple Creek
experiences say that the gain of water will
be millions of inches - for in Colorado
water that flows in bitches, or laterals, as
they are called in irrigation vernacular Is
reckoned by inches, just as if it were an adj
dition to a mans nose.
AS to the detailed construction of the tun-
mel itself there is nothing that makes it
very dissimilar in appearance to the ordi-
nary affair OF the sort that the railroad has
made familiar It's dimensions will be four
teen by eighteen feet in the clear, making
it of sufficient size for the heaviest and
largest freight cars to pass through it.
The vast system which goes to make up
the tunnel as a whole strikes at one place
or another not only every existing mining
point in the great section which it UNDER
lies but it is so arranged and laid out as TO
tap almost any spot that might become
a mining center, although now a compar-
alive wilderness. The saving of distance
in the haul of ore thirty-eight miles is
something tremendous.
A feature of the transportation system OF
the tunnel as it is planned is that electric
locomotives will be the power before the
freight trains. The tunnel will of course,
be lighted by electricity.
George Fl. Proctor, the president of the
company, who is a resident of New York,
said of the enterprise: Unless Providence
interferes the transportation feature of
the tunnel will be completed in seven
years"