Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
The Great Northern Project
Brings West Coast Hour
Nearer for Travellers.
COMPLETED IN 3 YEARS
Eliminates Snow Problem.
Hailed as Engineering
Achievement.
BY H, H. SHELDON,


Professor of Physics, New York University
The year just past has been marked
by tunnel building. In spite of, or be-
cause of, the efforts of our aviator
friends to make us lair minded" some
have become tunnel-minded and have
dug themselves deeper into the ground.
Tunnels have become the mode in en-
cheering. And each one Is bigger than
the last.
The reverberations set up through
the press and periodicals by the Hol-
land Tunnel had not yet died out when
new and stronger note was struck by
the Moffat Tunnel, for a few months
Americas longest. Now comes the tun-
mel through the Cascades, 100 miles
east of Seattle and nearly 2 miles
longer than the MoffaJ. It is about
8 miles in length and exceeded by only
four tunnels In the world-the Simplon,
st. Gothard. Loetschberg and Mount
Gents Tunnels in the Alps. 1t was
officially opened yesterday.
Greater Projects in Prospects.
A tunnel nowadays has to be some
thing ultra-Spectacular to be noticed.
The tunnel at Detroit crossing under
the river to Canada, now under con-
tunnel connecting Oakland, Calf, and
Alameda is noticed only because it is
not a tunnel at all, but a series of
IL Segments, each 200 or 800 feet long,
which were precaSt In concrete and
steel, sunk and joined end to end. The
next thrill may come with the build
ing of the much-discusSed CalaiS-Dover
Tunnel under the English Channel,
which 1t now appears may eventually
be built, or from the Gibraltar tube,
which, it is estimated, will cost ST, $780,
100000 If built.
The new tunnel through the Cas-
cades which has been built by the
Great Northern Railway, brings the
West Coast one hour nearer for trav-
elers and three hours nearer for freight.
The new Cascade Tunnel and approach,
according to statistics, shortens the
crossing by 9 miles. lowers the sum-
NIT 500 feet, eliminates curvature
equivalent to more than 10 complete
circles, reduces the mileage of maxi
mum % per cent grade crossing the
Cascades by Is miles, eliminates nearly
miles of mileage running through tun-
nels and SnowSheds by more than 2
miles and eliminates the snow problem,
which has always been matter of ex-
pense and danger.
The advantage of this is at once ap-
parent when it is known that snowfalls
in this region frequently amount to a
foot an hour and 20 to 80 feet of packed
snow are not uncommon. Snow falls al
most every month in the year. and a
total fall of 100 feet of snow or more
may be expected annually.
Called Engineering Feat.
The completion of this tunnel in
three years through difficult mountain
country marks an achievement or en-
gineering ingenuity. One naturally
thinks of constructing tunnel by be-
ginning a bore at each end and having
them meet in the middle. In order to
construct this tunnel quickly, however,
more than two points of attack were
necessary, and SO shaft was sunk In
valley, about 2I2 miles from the east
end, to the tunnel level, 622 feet deep.
This afforded additional working faces,
and tunneling in both directions from
this shaft was begun.
| But even this was not enough. To
speed the work still more, resort was
made to what was called pioneer tun-
mel. This tunnel was only feet wide
and 8 feet high and paralleled the main
tunnel a little to the south. 1t was
constructed so as to be always slightly
ahead of the main tunnel, with open
ings to connect them about every 1900
feet. Not only did this provide many
more working faces, but 1t was also