Washburn Tunnel

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The Washburn Tunnel is a two-lane underwater motor-vehicle tunnel connecting Galena Park and Pasadena, two suburbs of Houston, Texas. Completed in 1950, it travels underneath the Houston Ship Channel, a deep-water shipping route connecting the Port of Houston with Galveston Bay. It was named after Harris County, Texas Auditor Harry L. Washburn.

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The Washburn Tunnel runs north-south beneath the Houston Ship Channel and connects the cities of Galena Park and Pasadena, and is the only underwater vehicle tunnel currently in operation in the state of Texas and also the longest vehicle tunnel in the state. The tunnel consists of a single bore, 895 meters in length, with a 6 percent roadway grade outward from the center towards each exit. Forced transverse ventilation is potentially provided by three automatic blower fans located in a tower at the north entrance; however, only one blower fan was in use during this sampling study. Ambient air is drawn through screens on the north and south faces of the fan room and is channeled into a closed-end chamber that runs beneath the vehicle tunnel. This air is forced out of the closed-end chamber through vents located throughout the length of the tunnel at street level along both sides. Additional longitudinal ventilation is induced by the flow of vehicles and by the prevailing winds, which were generally light (2 m/s – 4 m/s)

The Washburn Tunnel is one of five vehicular crossings of the Ship Channel, the other four being the Sidney Sherman Bridge, popularly known as the (Interstate) 610 or Ship Channel bridge; the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge, formerly the Jesse Jones Toll Bridge and popularly known as the Beltway 8 Bridge; the Fred Hartman Bridge in Baytown, Texas; and the Lynchburg Ferry.