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| Moffat Tunnel |
Courtesy, Colorado State Archives
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Peak to Peak
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Wayside Excursion: Building the Moffat Tunnel
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| Work on the Moffat Tunnel proceeded from both the west and east sides of the Continental Divide. Construction camps were set up at both portals. In addition to a 24-hour-a-day dining hall, the camps had housing, schools, hospitals, and recreation facilities. Good food, good pay, and close attention to safety kept morale high, even though living conditions were harsh and the work hard and dangerous. Spirits were boosted by camp social activities, including boxing matches, dances, orchestra and band concerts, and drama clubs. |
| The workers toiled in eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, building two parallel tunnels: the railroad tunnel and a water tunnel. The cycle of tasks consisted of drilling, blasting, mucking (removing debris), enlarging the bore, and setting the timbers. Each shift might make only a few feet of progress. Work progressed on both the water tunnel and the railroad tunnel, with crosscuts connecting the two along the route. These crosscuts sheltered machines and workers during dynamite blasts. A system of blowers and fans was installed, one at each portal, to keep the air breathable. |
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Moffat Tunnel
under construction |
Courtesy, Colorado State
Archives
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| Unexpected events often made work on the tunnel difficult. Unstable rock at the west portal worried engineers, who were ready to call a halt to the project. George Lewis invented the Lewis Traveling Cantilever Girder to solve the problem. It provided support for the roof of the bore while workers enlarged the bottom and set supports. Even so, on July 30, 1926, 125 tons of rock fell unexpectedly and killed six men. Problems also arose near the east portal. On February 28, 1926, the east bore filled with water from nearby Crater Lake, a lake fed by underground streams. Pumps were rushed to the scene and the tunnel was almost drained when a blizzard arose and the power lines were cut. The tunnel filled with mud that hardened. Workers had to re-excavate before they could proceed. |
| Building the tunnel was a colossal undertaking. Workers excavated enough rock to fill 1,600 freight trains of 40 cars each. They used 2.5 million pounds of dynamite and drilled more than 700 miles of holes. They used enough timber to stretch 2,000 miles (1x12-inch planks). |
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| Workers inside Moffat Tunnel |
Courtesy, Colorado State Archives
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| In early 1927, workers in both bores could hear each other’s dynamite blasts. The race was on to see which crew would break through first. A tug of war ensued and the west crew was declared the winner. The official “holing through” celebration was held on February 18, 1927. To celebrate the tunnel’s completion, President Calvin Coolidge set off a series of blasts by telegraph. The event was broadcast by radio around the country. |
| In 1979, the tunnel was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Today, the tunnel still carries water and coal to Denver and also provides a great tourist experience for those heading west by train to the Winter Park Ski Area, Glenwood Springs, and on to the West Coast. |
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Rotary 10201
Courtesy, Denver Public Library, Western History Department, Z-315, Photo by George Schryer
Denver & Salt Lake Railroad workers with a snow-encrusted rotary plow.
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“They used some of the largest rotary snow plows that were available at the time to clear snow in the area. But it was a constant battle. Sometimes trains were stranded for days at a time. And they had to eat the meat and potatoes and food goods that were being shipped in order to survive.”
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Rotary snow plow
Courtesy, Denver Public Library, Western History Department, MCC2769, Photo by L. C. McClure
Train tracks are cleared with some of the largest rotary snow plows.
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Excavation inside Moffat Tunnel
Courtesy, Colorado State Archives
Workers excavate three-billion pounds of rock to create the 6.2-mile-long tunnel, truly an engineering marvel.
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Moffat Tunnel
Great Divide Pictures LLC
The tunnel, asvital a transportation link today as it was 75 years ago, carries an average of 20 trainsa day. |
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