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The tunnel was built under two contracts. One contractor used conventional drill and blast to excavate the entire 40 ft. high by 20 ft. wide tunnel profile, working from the west portal. The east portal contractor excavated a +or- 20 ft. diameter top heading with a tunnel boring machine and then used drill and blast to remove the remaining "bench". The tunnel was lined with concrete after excavation was complete. A third contractor built the ventilation shaft. The tunnel uses a unique ventilation system that consists of the shaft, a tail tunnel connecting the shaft to the main tunnel and doors at either end of the tunnel and near the vent shaft tail tunnel. The doors open and close so as to push exhaust out the vent shaft or pull fresh air from the vent shaft into the tunnel, depending on the position of the train in the tunnel. The tunnel was built to reduce the grade for westbound coal trains. This reduced the need for up to nine additional locomotives to push the coal trains up the steeper grade of the Connaught Tunnel.

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16y ago

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