HIGHEST & LONGEST & FIRST - Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels - Colorado
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 40.765 W 105° 54.202
13S E 422528 N 4392566
Simple known as "the Tunnel' in Colorado, these feats of engineering are critical to transportation in the United States
Waymark Code: WM9DT1
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2010
Views: 12
The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel (EJMT) was, for its time, a groundbreaking feat of engineering planning and design. The construction of I-70 and the EJMT through the Rocky Mountains was a major accomplishment toward the completion of the Interstate Highway System. It was the nation's most expensive highway project up to that point and remains the world's longest (at 1.7 miles [2.74 km]) and highest (over 11,000 feet[3,352.8 m]) underground thoroughfare. The EJMT stands as one of the great engineering achievements of 20th century highway design. The project has been awarded the 1993 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award; in February 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) designated the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways as one of the "Seven Wonders of the United States." (Other "wonders" include the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, and the Panama Canal) and the 2000 Presidential Design Award.
How about superstition? About men thinking women working underground was bad luck?
The first woman ever to be employed on a tunnel project was Janet Bonnema of Georgetown, hired as an underground technician when officials misread her name ("James") and thought she was a man. When she showed up for work November 9, 1972, sixty miners walked off the job. Bonnema was immediately assigned to an office job.
She sued the state and won the right to work underground on the tunnel project. (Visit link) and (visit link).
Coordinates and elevation from my GPSr:
East Tunnel N39° 40.765, W105° 54.202 (11,048'; 3,367.4 m)
West Tunnel N39° 40.737, W105° 56.106 (11,077'; 3,376.2 m)