Wawona Tunnel
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The Wawona Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Yosemite National Park. It, and Tunnel View just beyond its east portal, were completed in 1933.[1][2]
Wawona Tunnel is named after the community of Wawona but its name origin is not known. A popular story claims Wawō'na was the Miwok word for "big tree", or for "hoot of the owl", a bird considered the sequoia trees' spiritual guardian.[3][4]
Route
Wawona Tunnel was bored through solid granite bedrock, and carries Wawona Road through a granite mountain on the south side of the Merced River.[5] It is located on one of the three main roads providing access to Yosemite Valley, the most visited section of the park. Wawona Road becomes California State Route 41 on exiting the park. After passing through the tunnel, when leaving Yosemite Valley, Wawona Road continues to Chinquapin Junction with Glacier Point Road to Badger Pass ski area & Glacier Point, and reaches an elevation of Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level.
The completion of the tunnel shortened the trip to Yosemite by Script error: No such module "convert". from Fresno and Southern California, compared to the All-Year Highway from Merced.[6] The tunnel's construction was paired with major road upgrades, which expanded a narrow, often steep 12-foot stagecoach road into a 26-foot wide road. These improvements lowered the road's incline to a gentle 5% and softened sharp curves, making it better suited for automobile speeds.[7] Additionally, the project rerouted the road away from old stagecoach relay stations like Fort Monroe.
Specifications
When it opened in 1933, the Wawona Tunnel was the longest automobile tunnel in the world and remains the longest highway tunnel in California at Script error: No such module "convert". long.[2][8] The Tom Lantos Tunnels in Pacifica, California are Script error: No such module "convert". .8 Miles long; the Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, California is Script error: No such module "convert". long. Both measured in their longest bores.
A $1.5 million federal highway contract to repair the tunnel's ventilation and electrical systems, and a separate contract to upgrade visitor services at Tunnel View, was completed in 2008.[1]
Scenery
The Wawona Tunnel features in a monochrome photograph by Ansel Adams: From Wawona Tunnel, Winter, Yosemite, about 1935.[9]
See also
- List of tunnels documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Yosemite National Park
- Tunnel View
References
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External links
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- Vehicle Restrictions, National Park Service
- Photo of Department of Agriculture Survey Plaque — dated 1936 and giving the tunnel's length as 4358.91 feet.
- Photo of ventilation fans, The Digital Ark Corporation
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- Pages with script errors
- Transportation buildings and structures in Mariposa County, California
- Buildings and structures in Yosemite National Park
- Historic American Engineering Record in California
- History of Mariposa County, California
- Road tunnels in California
- 1933 establishments in California
- Tunnels completed in 1933
- National Park Service rustic in Yosemite National Park