Eisenhower Tunnel

The Spectacular Eisenhower Tunnel

Located in Summit Country Colorado is the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel.  The tunnel is located 60 miles west of Denver Colorado on Interstate 70.  The Eisenhower Tunnel is notable because it is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world.  This tunnel is located at an impressive elevation of 11,013 feet at the East Portal and 11, 158 feet at the West Portal.  Known not only because of its height, but also because of the fact that it crosses through the Continental Divide, the Eisenhower Tunnel really is one of a kind.

The structure is so massive that the Eisenhower Tunnel passes through two counties, one of which is Summit County and the other which is Clear Creek County.  The entire tunnel is located within the Arapaho National Forrest, and is the center point of two different watersheds, which are the Clear Creek Watershed and the Straight Creek Watershed.  The area gets a massive 26 feet of snow, meaning there is a lot of water in the creeks around the tunnel.

The History of the Eisenhower Tunnel

The Eisenhower Tunnel began construction in March of 1968 and took five years to complete.  The completion date for the tunnel was march 8th, 1973.  The tunnel was created as a twin bore tunnel and was called the Straight Creek Tunnel, though it was later named the Eisenhower Memorial Bore.  The second bore was started a little more than two years later, in August of 1975 and took four years to complete.  The completion date for the second bore was December 21, 1979.  This eastbound bore was named for Edwin C. Johnson, a U.S. Senator that was a proponent of the Colorado highway system.

Eisenhower Tunnel Specs

The two tunnels are just 115 feet apart at the east end and 120 feet apart on the west end. The widest area of separation puts the two tunnels just 230 apart from one another.  The westbound tunnel measures 1.693 miles in length while the eastbound tunnel measures a bit longer a 1.697 miles in length.  The maximum height of the tunnels is 48 feet and the tunnels are both 40 feet wide.  While the height is actually 48 feet high, the tunnel has a clearance just over 13 feet because of exhaust and ventilation ductwork that has been installed overhead.  Each tunnel or bore has two lanes of traffic, with each lane measuring about 13 feet wide.  There is also a walkway in the tunnel that is between the west and eastbound tunnels.

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