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39-549: Beckwourth Pass is the lowest mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range at an elevation of 5,221 feet (1,591 m). Beckwourth Pass is located at the north eastern edge of Sierra Valley at Chilcoot-Vinton, California near the border between Plumas County and Lassen County , 20 miles (32 km) east of Portola, California and 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Reno, Nevada . California State Route 70 crosses over Beckwourth Pass. The Feather River Route of

78-499: A mining background, expressed a common superstition that a woman brought bad luck to a mine. One worker insisted, "It's a jinx. I've seen too many die after a woman was in the tunnel." Bonnema sued the department for the right to work inside the tunnel. She countered she was in better shape and more agile than most of the men who were working on the tunnel. Emboldened by the passage of an equal rights law in Colorado, she finally entered

117-702: A position as an engineering technician with the Colorado Department of Transportation she was given an assignment on the Straight Creek Tunnels project. Her supervisor misread her resume and thought that he was hiring "James." When the supervisor discovered that the department had hired a woman, she was tasked with doing support work from the office. There was opposition to a woman entering the construction site. One supervisor stated that if she entered, "Those workers would flat walk out of that there tunnel and they'd never come back." The workers, most of whom had

156-446: A ridge. On a topographic map , passes can be identified by contour lines with an hourglass shape, which indicates a low spot between two higher points. In the high mountains, a difference of 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) between the summit and the mountain is defined as a mountain pass. Passes are often found just above the source of a river , constituting a drainage divide . A pass may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to

195-538: A summit and the valley floor. Passes traditionally were places for trade routes, communications, cultural exchange, military expeditions etc. A typical example is the Brenner pass in the Alps . Some mountain passes above the tree line have problems with snow drift in the winter. This might be alleviated by building the road a few meters above the ground, which will make snow blow off the road. There are many words for pass in

234-510: Is 1.693 miles (2.72 km) long, while the Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Bore (eastbound tunnel) is 1.697 miles (2.73 km) long. The tunnels are sloped with a 1.64% grade , with an elevation of 11,013 feet (3,357 m) at the east portal and 11,158 feet (3,401 m) at the west portal. At its dedication, the Eisenhower Tunnel was the highest vehicular tunnel in the world. While it remains

273-464: Is closed—such as for construction or storms—the hazmat prohibition is temporarily lifted and the tunnel is closed to regular traffic once per hour to allow hazmats to be escorted through the tunnel in a convoy . The idea for a tunnel under Loveland Pass existed since at least the 1950s. William A.H. Loveland had an idea of a tunnel under the divide in 1867, but instead got the wagon road now known as Loveland Pass built. Serious discussion began when

312-502: Is frequently the only flat ground in the area, and may be a high vantage point. In some cases this makes it a preferred site for buildings. If a national border follows the ridge of a mountain range, a pass over the mountains is typically on the border, and there may be a border control or customs station, and possibly a military post. For instance, Argentina and Chile share the world's third-longest international border , 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) long, which runs north–south along

351-541: Is that a pass can refer to a route, as well as the highest part thereof, while a hause is simply that highest part, often flattened somewhat into a high-level plateau. In Japan they are known as tōge , which means "pass" in Japanese. The word can also refer to narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around mountains and geographically similar areas, or specifically to a style of street racing which may take place on these roads. There are thousands of named passes around

390-400: Is used for forced air ventilation while the space below the roadway is used for drainage. As of March 2023 , more than 434 million vehicles had passed through the tunnel. This figure includes a significant number of visitors to Colorado's ski resorts . Due to additional height restrictions from variable-message signs and lighting systems, the original posted clearance of the tunnels

429-513: The Andes mountains and includes 42 mountain passes. On a road over a pass, it is customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of the pass and its elevation above mean sea level . Apart from offering relatively easy travel between valleys, passes also provide a route between two mountain tops with a minimum of descent. As a result, it is common for tracks to meet at a pass; this often makes them convenient routes even when travelling between

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468-588: The Eisenhower–Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel , is a dual-bore, four-lane vehicular tunnel in the western United States , approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Denver , Colorado. The tunnel carries Interstate 70 (I-70) under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains . With a maximum elevation of 11,158 feet (3,401 m) above sea level , it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in

507-737: The Taglang La at 5,328 m (17,480 ft) on the Leh-Manali highway , and the Sia La at 5,589 m (18,337 ft) in the Eastern Karakoram range. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach (anglicised "balloch"), while Wales has the similar bwlch (both being insular Celtic languages). In the Lake District of north-west England, the term hause is often used, although the term pass is also common—one distinction

546-581: The Beckwourth Trail became a toll road. The toll cost to move a ton of freight from Bidwell Bar to Quincy was about $ 18. This made using the Beckwourth Road an expensive enterprise and the use of the Beckwourth Trail declined. Between 1895 and 1916, the pass was used by the Sierra Valley & Mohawk Railway narrow gauge . The abandoned right-of-way is still visible on the south, and eastern slope of

585-548: The China–India border respectively, appear to be world's two highest motorable passes. Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China at 4,693 metres (15,397 ft) is also a high-altitude motorable mountain pass. One of the famous but non-motorable mountain passes is Thorong La at 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) in Annapurna Conservation Area , Nepal. Eisenhower Tunnel The Eisenhower Tunnel , officially

624-776: The English-speaking world. In the United States, pass is very common in the West , the word gap is common in the southern Appalachians , notch in parts of New England , and saddle in northern Idaho . The term col , derived from Old French, is also used, particularly in Europe. In the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, passes are denoted by the suffix "La" in Tibetan, Ladhakhi, and several other regional languages. Examples are

663-592: The Johnson bore was $ 102.8 million (equivalent to $ 432 million in 2024). Not included in the figures is about $ 50 million in non-boring expenses during the construction of both tunnels. Upon opening, it became the highest-elevation tunnel in the world, taking the title from the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan. The tunnel's construction highlighted issues relevant to the feminist movement. When Janet Bonnema applied for

702-416: The best efforts of engineers, three workers were killed boring the first tube and four in boring the second. Further complicating construction, the boring machines could not work as fast as expected at such high elevations and so the productivity was significantly less than planned. The frustration prompted one engineer to comment, "We were going by the book, but the damned mountain couldn't read." Though

741-555: The east portal. A Martin 4-0-4 charter aircraft, one of two carrying the college football team of Wichita State University , crashed just north of the highway ( 39°41′37″N 105°52′57″W  /  39.6935°N 105.8825°W  / 39.6935; -105.8825 ). Of the 40 passengers and crew on board, only nine survived. The team was on its way to a game with Utah State University in Logan and had recently refueled at Denver's Stapleton International Airport . The plane carrying

780-512: The eastbound Edwin C. Johnson tunnel on August 18, 1975, and finished on December 21, 1979. The initial engineering cost estimate for the Eisenhower bore was $ 42 million, but the actual cost was $ 108 million (equivalent to $ 741 million in 2024). Approximately 90% of the funds were paid by the federal government, with the state of Colorado paying the rest. At the time, it set a record for the most expensive federally aided project. The excavation cost for

819-678: The former Western Pacific Railroad , now the Union Pacific Railroad , crosses beneath the pass via the Chilcoot Tunnel. Route 70 and the railroad line provide an alternate route between Sacramento, California and Reno, Nevada when Interstate 80 and the Overland Route , which cross the Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass , are impassable due to winter storms. James Beckwourth discovered Beckwourth Pass in 1850. In 1851, he improved

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858-645: The highest vehicular tunnel in the US, and longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway System, higher tunnels have since been constructed elsewhere, such as the Fenghuoshan Tunnel , a rail tunnel in China. The tunnel bores measure 48 ft × 40 ft (15 m × 12 m). The traveled portion is a rectangular shape just over 16 ft (4.9 m) tall. The space above this

897-581: The pass. In 1906, the Chilcoot Tunnel, with a length of 6,002 feet (1,829 m), was constructed beneath Beckwourth Pass by the Western Pacific Railroad as part of its Feather River Route . This route is now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad . In 1937, a bronze plaque was erected at Beckwourth Pass by the Native Daughters of the Golden West to commemorate the discoverer and

936-490: The path into Sierra Valley to create his Beckwourth Trail . The trail ran from Truckee Meadows (what is now known as Sparks, Nevada ) through the pass into California and on to Marysville . In late summer of 1851, James Beckwourth led the first wagon train of settlers along the Beckwourth Trail into Marysville. Between 1851 and 1854,1,200 emigrants used the Beckwourth Trail, leading 12,000 head of cattle, 700 sheep, and 500 horses. However, in 1854, use dropped sharply when

975-419: The pioneers who passed along the trail. On August 8, 1939, Beckwourth Pass was designated as California Historical Landmark Number 336 . ` Mountain pass Mountain passes make use of a gap , saddle , col or notch . A topographic saddle is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface , with a saddle point marking the minimum high point between two valleys and the lowest point along

1014-410: The project was supposed to take three years, the tunnel was not opened to traffic until a March 8, 1973, dedication ceremony by Governor John Love . Initially, the northern Eisenhower bore was used for two-way traffic, with one lane for each direction. The amount of traffic through the tunnel exceeded predictions, and efforts soon began to expedite construction on the southern bore. Construction began on

1053-430: The project went well over time and budget. One of the biggest setbacks was the discovery of fault lines in the path of the tunnel that were not discovered during the pilot bores. The first construction contractor went bankrupt excavating rock in this fault zone. These faults began to slip during construction and emergency measures had to be taken to protect the tunnels and workers from cave-ins and collapses. Despite

1092-470: The state of Colorado lobbied for the Interstate Highway System to route a transcontinental highway across Colorado. After a round of negotiations with Utah officials, it was decided the best option was to follow the US Route 6 corridor. Engineers recommended tunneling under the pass, rather than attempt to build a route across conforming to Interstate Highway standards . The Eisenhower–Johnson Memorial Tunnel

1131-609: The team's starters departed Denver and traveled a poorly planned scenic route. The other plane, carrying reserve players, followed the original route and landed safely in Logan. While the Eisenhower Tunnel was primarily intended as a transportation tunnel, it also serves as a water tunnel for water diversion from the western side of the Continental Divide to the eastern side. Water from the Straight Creek watershed (a tributary of

1170-513: The top of the pass, or a valley many kilometers long, whose highest point might only be identifiable by surveying . Roads and railways have long been built through passes. Some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath a nearby mountainside, as with the Eisenhower Tunnel bypassing Loveland Pass in the Rockies, to allow faster traffic flow throughout the year. The top of a pass

1209-460: The tunnel has largely supplanted the older route of U.S. Highway 6 over Loveland Pass , hazardous material carriers (hazmats), bicycles, and pedestrians are prohibited from the tunnel and must use the pass, which is longer, steeper, and 834 ft (254 m) higher at 11,992 ft (3,655 m). And while the tunnel's route is less formidable than the pass, its approaches are steep nonetheless and have runaway truck ramps . If Loveland Pass

Beckwourth Pass - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-409: The tunnel) or due to snow and ice atop the trailer. During this time, the trucking industry estimated the number of alarms would drop by as much as 80% if the clearance could be raised even a few inches. The 2007 retrofit also added a weigh-in-motion system that calculates a safe speed for trucks on the 7% grades and curves on the departures from the tunnels and displays it to each driver. While

1287-407: The tunnel, with an entourage of reporters, on November 9, 1972. Some workers walked off the job, and at least one of them yelled, "Get those women out of here." She remained determined and re-entered the tunnel a few days later. The next time, she dressed in coveralls and was even assigned tasks on the roof of the tunnel overlooking the men below. Surprised that nobody had apparently noticed that she

1326-401: The tunnel. The entrance will remain closed until the vehicle is removed from the freeway, which can cause severe delays. CDOT noted that prior to the retrofit, about 20,000 vehicles per year tripped the alarm. The trucking industry argued that many of these trucks were under the height requirement but tripped the alarm due to their air suspensions (which can be lowered during their journey through

1365-908: The world, some of which are well-known, such as the Khyber Pass close to the present-day Afghanistan-Pakistan border on the ancient Silk Road , the Great St. Bernard Pass at 2,473 metres (8,114 ft) in the Alps , the Chang La at 5,360 metres (17,590 ft), the Khardung La at 5,359 metres (17,582 ft) in Ladakh , India and the Palakkad Gap at 140 metres (460 ft) in Palakkad , Kerala , India . The roads at Mana Pass at 5,610 metres (18,410 ft) and Marsimik La at 5,582 metres (18,314 ft), on and near

1404-605: The world. The tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway System . Opened in 1973, the westbound bore is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower , the U.S. President for whom the Interstate system is also named. The eastbound bore was completed in 1979 and is named for Edwin C. Johnson , a Colorado governor and U.S. Senator who lobbied for an Interstate Highway to be built across Colorado. The Eisenhower Memorial Bore (westbound tunnel)

1443-480: Was 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m). The trucking industry lobbied the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to increase the vertical clearance. In 2007, the tunnel was retrofitted with lower-profile lighting and signs, increasing its clearance by 5 in (13 cm) to 13 ft 11 in (4.24 m). A height detector near each tunnel entrance sounds a siren and turns traffic signals red, stopping all traffic, if an overheight vehicle attempts to enter

1482-470: Was a woman, she stated, "I had a good disguise." Bonnema continued to dress in coveralls during her subsequent work in the tunnel so as not to attract attention. In November 2023, CDOT opened an updated operations center and new garage bays at the tunnels. On Friday, October 2, 1970, during the tunnel's construction, workers constructing the tunnel were among the first on scene of a plane crash that had occurred less than two miles (3.2 km) northeast of

1521-540: Was known as the Straight Creek Tunnel during construction, named for the waterway that runs along the western approach to the tunnel. Before the tunnel was dedicated, it was renamed to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower and Edwin C. Johnson. The original Pioneer bore to access the two larger bores was "holed through" in late 1964, after fourteen months. Construction on the first bore of the tunnel was started on March 15, 1968. Construction efforts suffered many setbacks and

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