BRIDGES PROJECT OFFICIALS LEARN ABOUT TUNNEL SAFETY, MAINTENANCE
August 2006 -- Representatives of the Ohio River Bridges Project and area emergency responders toured the 4,600-foot Cumberland Gap Tunnel in Harlan County, Ky., on April 26, 2006. The group visited the facility – the largest of its kind in Kentucky – to learn more about engineering, maintenance and safety issues surrounding the construction and upkeep of a major roadway tunnel.
Ventilation, lighting, signage, roadway safety, emergency vehicle access and fire control measures were among the topics the group discussed with some of the 40 individuals who work at the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. The information will aid designers of the 2,000-foot tunnel that will pass underneath U.S. 42 in the Bridges Project’s Kentucky East End Approach section, as well as the emergency medical and firefighters who will help keep it safe.
“This was a tremendous opportunity for those of us involved with the Kentucky East End Approach tunnel to learn more about tunnel engineering and safety issues from an impressive facility right in our own back yard,” said John Sacksteder, project manager for Community Transportation Solutions, general engineering consultant for the Bridges Project.
The Cumberland Gap Tunnel, which was completed in 1996 at a cost of $280 million, carries US-25E under Cumberland Gap between Kentucky and Tennessee. Both states pay about $1 million annually to maintain the tunnel.
