The Zion – Mount Carmel Highway is a long road in
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
and
Kane
Kane or KANE may refer to:
Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities
*Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist
* Kane (''Command & Conquer''), Tiberium universe character in the ''Command & Conquer'' ...
counties in southern
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
that is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
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 Stat ...
.
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 a national park of the United States 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 ...
, 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 ...
at
Mount Carmel Junction. The road became part of a loop tour of Zion,
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park () is a national park of the United States 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 ...
,
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 is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...
.
Design and construction

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 List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
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 façade of cut
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
, 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 (vehicle), trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a ''semi-trailer truck'' (also known simply as a "semi-trailer", "tractor trailer", or "semi" in the United Sta ...
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 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 Stat ...
by the American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
in 2011.
See also
*East Entrance Sign (Zion National Park)
The historical buildings and structures of Zion National Park represent a variety of buildings, interpretive structures, signs and infrastructure associated with the National Park Service's operations in Zion National Park, Utah. Structures vary i ...
*Floor of the Valley Road
The Floor of the Valley Road, also known as the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, follows the canyon of the North Fork of the Virgin River, also known as Zion Canyon, through Zion National Park, Utah.
History
A precursor to the present nine-mile roa ...
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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). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...
(HAER) documentation, filed under Springdale, Washington County, UT:
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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