Does anyone know where this was located?
I can't find much information about it other than this here:
http://www.kcmo.org/timeline.nsf/web/19 ... endocument
1928 3 mile tunnel
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dangerboy
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Re: 1928 3 mile tunnel
I believe the two tunnels are mostly under Burlington Street.
Re: 1928 3 mile tunnel
I found a lot of info on it and thought I would share it.
Missouri Valley Water Tunnel
Construction start: 1925
Completion: 1928
Source: http://www.kcmo.org/timeline.nsf/web/19 ... endocument
The Water Department completes what is believed to be the most ambitious civic project in its history: construction of a water distribution tunnel to carry water from the treatment facility north of the river to water customers south of the river. The population of the city is 325,000 when construction begins in 1925.
Nearly three miles long, the seven foot, six inch diameter tunnel is blasted out of shale bedrock 300 feet below the Missouri River. Using only manual surveying techniques, the finished tunnel is only 11 inches off in the horizontal direction of its planned location.
A second trans-Missouri tunnel, parallel to the original tunnel, is bored in the 1990s to enable the original tunnel to be taken out of service for maintenance.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Kansas City's water supply for many decades
Source: http://www.pipesite.com/kcproject.html
"I can recall hearing about the need for this pipeline project almost as soon as I started work at the Kansas City pressure pipe plant" says Ron Maybell, a Price Brothers Field Service Representative in the Kansas area.
Since 1928, when the first Missouri Valley Tunnel was built to supply water from north of the city to the metro area south of the Missouri River, Kansas City Water and Pollution Control Department officials saw the community becoming increasingly dependent on that one tunnel pipeline for some 75 percent of the city's water.
Soon after he became the Price Brothers Field Engineer for the Kansas City region, voters approved a new $30-million tunnel pipeline, called the Trans-Missouri River Tunnel, and he found himself in a front-row seat for an unusually historic and challenging project.
The new pipeline follows a 2.9-mile path running parallel with the first tunnel. It connects the Kansas City Water Treatment Plant north of the river to distribution mains south of the river in the River Market area. For most of its path, the tunnel runs more than 300 feet deep and directly under Burlington Avenue--this minimized the need for costly easements under private property.
By building this new tunnel alongside the older one, Kansas City's Water Department will not only have a larger water supply system, complete with backup capacity, but they can now shut down, inspect, and maintain the older tunnel to help meet the city's water needs for many decades to come.
By going to a depth of 340 feet at the downshaft end and 325 feet at the upshaft, the tunnel could be dug through the rock formations beneath the sand and gravel of the Missouri River's groundwater aquifer. The downside was the safety threat presented by crude oil and hydrocarbon gases pocketed between the layers of rock.
For this new tunnel project, safety was the highest priority. Special safety measures were taken from the start, including automatic gas monitoring systems, added ventilation, steel ring tunnel supports, and a fully equipped rescue team from Kansas City's Fire Department.
Before entering the tunnel for the first time, Ron received more than 8 hours of safety training. As a result, he never sensed any fear, but did feel the strange excitement of being deep under ground with the constant smell of crude oil and damp rock dust reminding him how special this project was.
Digging the two shafts and the 11-foot-diameter tunnel through the solid rock was done with huge, specialized boring machinery following a laser guided path. Nearly 150,000 tons of rock deposit were removed while digging the tunnel.
As soon as the tunnel was dug, installation of the pipeline began. Price Brothers helped train the three crews who worked around the clock to lay the pipeline. At the same time, Price Brothers had to carefully coordinate shipment of pipe from our Hattiesburg, Mississippi, manufacturing plant. With space at the crane site for only ten sections of pipe, we had to stay alert day and night as work continued.
The pipeline required 730 sections of 90-inch-diameter PCCP--each weighing 29 tons. Due to the tunnel's depth and dynamic pumping head, the maximum design pressure for the tunnel is 300 psi. As a result, the PCCP was double wrapped with prestressing wire.
Each pipe section had our testable-joint end rings. As soon as the crew pulled each section of pipe into a secure joint, the plug was removed from the testable joint and air was pumped in to leak test the joint at a pressure of about 60 psi. Pressure was held for at least five minutes before the joint was approved.
We had about 10 inches of space around the outer pipe wall that was filled with lightweight cellular concrete grout. Every third pipe section had four outlets through which the crew pumped the grout into place.
Along with everyone at the Kansas City Water and Pollution Control Department, at Black & Veatch, the engineers for this project, and at the joint venture Mole/Kassouf construction contractors, the entire Price Brothers team regards this project as a very historic success-- one we're pleased to be part of.
Missouri Valley Water Tunnel
Construction start: 1925
Completion: 1928
Source: http://www.kcmo.org/timeline.nsf/web/19 ... endocument
The Water Department completes what is believed to be the most ambitious civic project in its history: construction of a water distribution tunnel to carry water from the treatment facility north of the river to water customers south of the river. The population of the city is 325,000 when construction begins in 1925.
Nearly three miles long, the seven foot, six inch diameter tunnel is blasted out of shale bedrock 300 feet below the Missouri River. Using only manual surveying techniques, the finished tunnel is only 11 inches off in the horizontal direction of its planned location.
A second trans-Missouri tunnel, parallel to the original tunnel, is bored in the 1990s to enable the original tunnel to be taken out of service for maintenance.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Kansas City's water supply for many decades
Source: http://www.pipesite.com/kcproject.html
"I can recall hearing about the need for this pipeline project almost as soon as I started work at the Kansas City pressure pipe plant" says Ron Maybell, a Price Brothers Field Service Representative in the Kansas area.
Since 1928, when the first Missouri Valley Tunnel was built to supply water from north of the city to the metro area south of the Missouri River, Kansas City Water and Pollution Control Department officials saw the community becoming increasingly dependent on that one tunnel pipeline for some 75 percent of the city's water.
Soon after he became the Price Brothers Field Engineer for the Kansas City region, voters approved a new $30-million tunnel pipeline, called the Trans-Missouri River Tunnel, and he found himself in a front-row seat for an unusually historic and challenging project.
The new pipeline follows a 2.9-mile path running parallel with the first tunnel. It connects the Kansas City Water Treatment Plant north of the river to distribution mains south of the river in the River Market area. For most of its path, the tunnel runs more than 300 feet deep and directly under Burlington Avenue--this minimized the need for costly easements under private property.
By building this new tunnel alongside the older one, Kansas City's Water Department will not only have a larger water supply system, complete with backup capacity, but they can now shut down, inspect, and maintain the older tunnel to help meet the city's water needs for many decades to come.
By going to a depth of 340 feet at the downshaft end and 325 feet at the upshaft, the tunnel could be dug through the rock formations beneath the sand and gravel of the Missouri River's groundwater aquifer. The downside was the safety threat presented by crude oil and hydrocarbon gases pocketed between the layers of rock.
For this new tunnel project, safety was the highest priority. Special safety measures were taken from the start, including automatic gas monitoring systems, added ventilation, steel ring tunnel supports, and a fully equipped rescue team from Kansas City's Fire Department.
Before entering the tunnel for the first time, Ron received more than 8 hours of safety training. As a result, he never sensed any fear, but did feel the strange excitement of being deep under ground with the constant smell of crude oil and damp rock dust reminding him how special this project was.
Digging the two shafts and the 11-foot-diameter tunnel through the solid rock was done with huge, specialized boring machinery following a laser guided path. Nearly 150,000 tons of rock deposit were removed while digging the tunnel.
As soon as the tunnel was dug, installation of the pipeline began. Price Brothers helped train the three crews who worked around the clock to lay the pipeline. At the same time, Price Brothers had to carefully coordinate shipment of pipe from our Hattiesburg, Mississippi, manufacturing plant. With space at the crane site for only ten sections of pipe, we had to stay alert day and night as work continued.
The pipeline required 730 sections of 90-inch-diameter PCCP--each weighing 29 tons. Due to the tunnel's depth and dynamic pumping head, the maximum design pressure for the tunnel is 300 psi. As a result, the PCCP was double wrapped with prestressing wire.
Each pipe section had our testable-joint end rings. As soon as the crew pulled each section of pipe into a secure joint, the plug was removed from the testable joint and air was pumped in to leak test the joint at a pressure of about 60 psi. Pressure was held for at least five minutes before the joint was approved.
We had about 10 inches of space around the outer pipe wall that was filled with lightweight cellular concrete grout. Every third pipe section had four outlets through which the crew pumped the grout into place.
Along with everyone at the Kansas City Water and Pollution Control Department, at Black & Veatch, the engineers for this project, and at the joint venture Mole/Kassouf construction contractors, the entire Price Brothers team regards this project as a very historic success-- one we're pleased to be part of.