St. Clair River Tunnel
About this property
The St. Clair Tunnel is the name for two separate rail tunnels which were built under the St. Clair River between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. The original opened in 1891 and was the first full-size subaqueous tunnel built in North America. It was replaced by a new larger tunnel in 1994. It is a National Historic Landmark of the United States, and has been designated a civil engineering landmark by both US and Canadian engineering bodies. The first underwater rail tunnel in North America was opened by the St. Clair Tunnel Company in 1891. The company was a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), which used the new route to connect with its subsidiary Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway, predecessor to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW). Before the tunnel's construction, Grand Trunk was forced to use time-consuming rail ferries to transfer cargo. The tunnel was an engineering marvel in its day and designed by Joseph Hobson. The development of original techniques were achieved for excavating in a compressed air environment. The Beach tunnelling shield, designed by Alfred Ely Beach, was used to assist workmen in removing material from the route of the tunnel and left a continuous iron tube nearly 7,000 feet (2,100 m) long. Freight trains used the tunnel initially with the first passenger trains using it in 1892. The tunnel measured 6,025 feet (1,836 m) from portal to portal. The actual width of the St. Clair River at this crossing is only 2,290 feet (698 m). The tube had a diameter of 19 feet 10 inches (6.05 m) and hosted a single standard gauge track. It was built at a cost of $2.7 million (equivalent to $96.8 million in 2025). Steam locomotives were used initially to pull trains through the tunnel, however concerns over suffocation should a train stall while inside led to the installation of catenary wires for electric locomotives by 1907. These entered regular service on May 17, 1908. The locomotives were built by Baldwin-Westinghouse. A total of six electric locomotives were supplied by 1909. Each were equipped with three 240 hp (180 kW) single-phase motors and weighed 65 short tons (59.0 t; 58.0 long tons). They had a rigid wheel base and operated on a 3,300-volt, 25 cycle, single phase current. They had a maximum draw bar pull of 40,000 lbf (180 kN) and a running draw bar pull of 25,000 pounds-force (110 kN) at 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). According to a 1909 publication, double heading was standard practice when pulling 1,000 short tons (907.2 t; 892.9 long tons) trains up the 2% grade. The electric line's total length was 4 miles (6.4 km) and the trains were able run between 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). The Grand Trunk Railway used the locomotives to transfer both passenger and freight trains through the tunnel.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was St. Clair River Tunnel listed on the National Register?
St. Clair River Tunnel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1970.
What type of historic resource is St. Clair River Tunnel?
St. Clair River Tunnel is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is St. Clair River Tunnel a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. St. Clair River Tunnel has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for St. Clair River Tunnel?
The period of significance for St. Clair River Tunnel is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near St. Clair River Tunnel?
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