Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-11-06
TIE TUNNEL PROJECT.
The Survey Made More Than Five
Years Ago
BY ENGINEER GILMORE BROWN
RECALLED-HE RAN LINES FOR
TWO TUNNELS. ONE AT NINTH
STREET AND THE OTHER AT
TENTH-THE COST ESTIMATED
AT $50, 900 AT THAT TIME.

The project to tunnel Wheeling hill.
under discussion many times, but first
mentioned, since 1894, in the Register
about three weeks ago, and brought
before the Board of Commissioners by
Mr.. Hare, of Centre district, at the last
meeting, is by no means dead, although
the Board, largely because of mlscon
cept;on Of what was intended, defeated
Mr. Hare's motion. Since the session
of Wednesday many business men have
commended Mr.. Hare's course. and a
concerted effort will be made to rein
troduce the matter before the Board,
and also bring it to the attention OF
Council
The last time this project was before
the people was in the spring of 1894,
when it was suggested as an opportune
time to give employment to men whose
usual employments and occupations had
been closed as a result of the business
depression which followed the panic OF
1893. A number of business men at
that time advocated the project, ana
Engineer Gilmore Brown made an
elaborate study Of the strata Of the
hill, a complete survey OF two different
routes, estimates of cost, etc. One OF
Mr.. Browns surveys was from Ninth
street, and the other from the corner
of alley G and Tenth street. The Ninth
street tunnel was the shorter, as a mat
ter of course, cost less money. and ex-
act measurements demonstrated that
via it the distance between the Mcclure
House corner and Fulton was shortened
exactly one mile The Tenth street
tunnel, longer and more costly than the
ether, made nearly as much difference
in distance between the business por-
ton of the city and the district east.
Mr.. Brown made comparative meas
urements for both tunnels. as to dis
lance saved. from the corner of Market
and Tenth streets, Market and Twelfth
streets, and Market and Sixteenth
streets, and in all three cases the dis
lance through either tunnel was very
much shorter than via the McColioch
street route. He also projected the
tunnel so that it would pass through
the big ledge of sandstone rock which
underlies Wheeling hill, with two OBJ
iects in view, one being that the ma
terial would be valuable and the other
that the tunnel would not need arch
ing or other artificial support. This
Level brought either tunnel out at some
distance above the grade of McColloch
street, but Mr.. Brown provided a
method of bringing the roadway down
to grade which was inexpensive and
yet answered all the requirements Of
travel. The estimate of cost was in
the neighborhood of eighty thousand
dollars. The maps, estimates, pnoiles,
etc, were all given by Mr.. Brown to a
prominent business man, who has care
fully preserved the papers, and it is
probable that a re-survey of the ground
would not be required, as Mr.. Brown
is one of the most capable engineers,
and his work is to be relied upon. He
spent a good deal Of time on this mat
ter. The data compiled by Mr.. Brown
can be obtained without trouble. and
will be very valuable in case the pro-
ject comes up again, as 1t certainly
will.
Fast steamer Urania leaves every
morning, except Sunday, at s en-. for
- nj. rr