The Zion – Mount Carmel Highway is a long road in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and Kane counties in southern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and is a

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...

Description

The highway consists of the eastern half of

Utah State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR-9) is a state highway in southern Utah, serving Zion National Park. It starts at the western terminus at exit 16 on Interstate 15 (I-15), passing through Zion National Park, and ending at the eastern junction with U.S. Route ...

. It begins northeast of Springdale and runs east into

Zion National Park Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety ...

, where it passes through the long Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. After exiting the park, the highway continues east to

U.S. Route 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern sectio ...

Mount Carmel Junction Mount Carmel Junction and Mount Carmel are unincorporated communities located east of Zion National Park and north of Kanab in Kane County, Utah, United States. They lie in close proximity to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Mount Carmel J ...

. The road became part of a loop tour of Zion,

Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park () is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern ...

Cedar Breaks National Monument Cedar Breaks National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the U.S. state of Utah near Cedar City. Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater, stretching across , with a depth of over . The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over ...

, and the North Rim of

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...

Design and construction

Horseback party at west entrance to Zion Tunnel

The route was surveyed in 1923 by B.J. Finch, district engineer of the US Bureau of Public Roads, Howard C. Means, a Utah state engineer, and John Winder, a local rancher. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

evaluated alternative routes, including one that used Parunuweap Canyon (following the East Fork Virgin River), but settled on the Pine Creek route, which required a tunnel through the Great Arch. Detailed design work on the road was carried out by the Bureau of Public Roads. Details including bridges, retaining walls, culverts, and other features were designed by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Design under the supervision of

Thomas Chalmers Vint Thomas Chalmers Vint (August 15, 1894 – October 26, 1967) was a landscape architect credited for directing and shaping landscape planning and development during the early years of the United States National Park System. His work at Yosemite ...

. Work began in 1927 on a total of of road, which was completed in 1930. The highway features a tunnel that follows the profile of the Pine Creek Canyon wall at a consistent distance of from the outside face of the rock to the centerline of the tunnel. The west portal is framed by a masonry facade of cut

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, while the east portal is a naturalistically formed hole in the rock, entered directly from a bridge. Construction proceeded using mining techniques rather than traditional tunneling techniques, starting from a stope and working outward to the portals. The tunnel uses galleries to provide light and ventilation through the canyon wall to the outside air. The galleries also provided a place to dispose of rock generated during construction, which was dumped through the galleries into the canyon. Parking spaces were originally provided at the galleries, but were discontinued due to safety concerns. Some galleries have been repaired and partially closed with concrete due to damage from rockslides. The interior of the tunnel is rock-faced, with concrete reinforcement at selected locations. Work on the tunnel was started in 1927 by the Nevada Construction Company and was completed in 1930 at a cost of $503,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). At the time of its completion it was the longest non-urban road tunnel in the United States."New Mountain Highway Has Mile Long Tunnel"
''Popular Mechanics'', June 1930, pages 926 and 927 The tunnel's restricted dimensions require that vehicles over in height or in width give advance notice so that two-way traffic can be shut down in the tunnel, allowing oversize vehicles to proceed down the center of the tunnel. Vehicles over tall and

semi-trailers A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a tracto ...

as well as bicycles and pedestrians are prohibited in the tunnel. Other significant structures include the Pine Creek and Virgin River Bridges and a second, short tunnel through a rock spur east of the main tunnel. The Zion – Mount Carmel Highway was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1987. The Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel and Highway was designated as a

by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 2011.

References

External links

* (video of vehicle passing through Zion Tunnel) *

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Springdale, Washington County, UT: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Parkitecture in the Western Parks: Transportation Systems
National Park Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Zion - Mount Carmel Highway Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Historic American Engineering Record in Utah Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Transportation in Washington County, Utah Tunnels completed in 1930 Tunnels in Utah Road tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places Road tunnels in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Utah National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Utah National Register of Historic Places in Zion National Park 1930 establishments in Utah National Park Service rustic in Utah Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks

Description

Design and construction

See also

References

External links