Lehigh Tunnel

Lehigh Tunnel
Entrance to the Lehigh Tunnel heading southbound
Overview
LocationWashington Township, Lehigh County, and East Penn Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°46′44″N 75°39′08″W / 40.7789°N 75.6523°W / 40.7789; -75.6523
Route I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension
CrossesBlue Mountain
Operation
Work begunFebruary 14, 1989 (1989-02-14)[1]
OpenedNovember 9, 1991 (1991-11-09)[1]
OperatorPennsylvania Turnpike Commission[2]
TrafficAutomotive
CharacterRoad
Technical
Length4,380 feet (1,340 m)[1]
No. of lanes4[1]
Operating speed55 mph (89 km/h)[3]

The Lehigh Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels that carries the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (Interstate 476) under Blue Mountain north from U.S. Route 22 in the Lehigh Valley to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area between mileposts 70.7 to 71.5.[4]

Description

Lehigh Tunnel northbound entrance

Construction on this tunnel began on September 21, 1955.[5] Originally a single tunnel that opened to traffic on April 1, 1957,[6][7] turnpike officials changed the name from the originally-planned "T. J. Evans Tunnel" to the "Lehigh Tunnel" after Evans, chair of the turnpike commission during the time the tunnel was planned, was accused of defrauding the government. The new name also helped to differentiate the Lehigh Tunnel from the existing Blue Mountain Tunnel on the mainline.[8]

The tunnel was twinned in 1991 to allow two lanes of traffic in each direction. It has an unusual appearance, as the original (northbound) tunnel is rectangular, as it used the older dig-and-blast technique, while the new tube is oval, having been constructed using the New Austrian tunnelling method.

From 1980 to 1996, the Northeast Extension was designated as Pennsylvania Route 9, as opposing traffic faced each other in the single tube prior to the opening of the current southbound tube, and therefore did not qualify for Interstate highway status, which was granted five years after the completion of the southbound tube.[citation needed]

The Lehigh Tunnel crosses the border between Lehigh County and Carbon County. It is the only road tunnel crossed by the Appalachian Trail.

Cross-sectional diagram of the southbound tunnel

Accidents

Howard M. Sexton, a 70-year-old truck driver from New Jersey, was killed in the southbound Lehigh Tunnel on February 21, 2018, when an electrical conduit broke free from the tunnel's ceiling and fell through the windshield of his truck, striking him in the head.[9] In a preliminary report issued on May 1, 2018, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that a 10-foot-long section of conduit fell into the path of Sexton's truck after the steel support system for the conduits, which were suspended from the apex of the tunnel arch directly over the travel lanes, failed. The tunnel had last been inspected in 2016, at which time an inspector found evidence of corrosion on several of the steel support straps.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Through Seven Decades: A Brief History of the PA Turnpike". The Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  2. ^ "Homepage". The Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  3. ^ "Commission OKs raising turnpike speed limit (road watch)". Delaware County Daily Times. April 17, 2005.
  4. ^ Kunda, John. "'Pike Tunnel: An Engineering Triumph." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, February 15, 1957, p. 5 (subscription required).
  5. ^ "Pike Tunnel Has Been Renamed." Hazleton, Pennsylvania: Standard-Speaker, September 14, 1956, p. 17 (subscription required).
  6. ^ "Turnpike Commission to Complete Plans for Formal Opening of Lehigh Tunnel Next Week." Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania: The Pocono Record, March 23, 1957, p. 13 (subscription required).
  7. ^ "'Pike Link Makes L.V. 'Crossroads of East.'" Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, April 2, 1957, p. 4 (subscription required).
  8. ^ "Turnpike Tunnel Name Is Dropped." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, September 13, 1956, p. 1 (subscription required).
  9. ^ "A deadly accident in the Lehigh Tunnel, once the capstone to the Pennsylvania Turnpike". lehighvalleylive.com. February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  10. ^ "Preliminary Report Highway: HWY18FH006" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
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40°46′44″N 75°39′08″W / 40.7789°N 75.6523°W / 40.7789; -75.6523

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