Eisenhower Tunnel
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The Eisenhower Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel located at on Interstate 70 approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Denver, Colorado. The tunnel was built under the Continental Divide, and at a maximum elevation of 11,158 feet (3401 m) it is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world. It is also the longest tunnel built under the Interstate highway program and one of the last major pieces of the system to be completed. Its full official name is the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel (EJMT); the westbound bore is named after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (for whom the Interstate system is also named), the eastbound bore after Edwin C. Johnson, a former governor and U.S. Senator from Colorado.
The tunnel is a two-bore tunnel with each bore approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long. Construction of the westbound bore was started on March 15, 1968 and finished on March 8, 1973. The eastbound bore was started on August 18, 1975 and completed on December 21, 1979. From 1973-79 the westbound bore carried a single lane of traffic in each direction. The total construction cost of the project was $108 million. In 2002, over ten million vehicles passed through the tunnel, many of them driving between the Denver area and popular skiing locations west of the Continental Divide. The eastern end of the tunnel is under and surrounded by the Loveland ski area.
Trucks that cannot safely pass through the tunnel (trucks over 13' 6" (4.1m) in height and trucks carrying hazardous materials), and bicycles and pedestrians, must take the long and steep climb and descent of US 6 across Loveland Pass. Tourists who want to take a photograph from the scenery at an elevation of 11,990 feet (3655 m) above mean sea level must also take Loveland Pass. Aside from that, the tunnel has replaced the pass.
