Wawona Tunnel

Wawona Tunnel
	The east end of the tunnel
Overview
Location	Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, California, USA
Coordinates	37°42′57″N 119°41′09″W
Route	SR 41
Operation
Opened	1933
Owner	Caltrans
Technical
Length	4,233 feet (1,290 m)
No. of lanes	two lanes total, one in each direction
Route map

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]

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.[3] 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 6,039 feet (1,841 m) above sea level.

Specifications

At 4,233 feet (1,290 m) long Wawona Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in California.[2][4]

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 famous monochrome photograph by Ansel Adams: From Wawona Tunnel, Winter, Yosemite, about 1935.[5]

References

Leonnig, Carol D. (May 3, 2008). "Yosemite's Wawona Tunnel could be dangerous". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
Rabold, John (November 2010). "Yosemite FAQs". A Guide to Yosemite National Park. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
Travis, Virginia. "Yosemite National Park: Wawona Tunnel". Retrieved 10 November 2012.
The long Devil's Slide Tunnel in Pacifica, California, scheduled to open in 2013, is 4,149 feet (1,265 m) long; Dot.ca.gov/dist4: Devil's Slide; The Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, California is 3,771 feet (1,149 m) long. Both measured in their longest bores).
"Ansel Adams: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea exhibition opens in London". The Guardian. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.

External links

Driving through the Wawona Tunnel, YouTube
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
Wawona tunnel construction details (graphic), Library of Congress records (from yosemitenews.info/forum)
Detailed map of tunnel and side tunnels from yosemitenews.info/forum
Building the National Parks: Historic Landscape Design and Construction, Professor Linda Flint McClelland, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 18 Nov 1997, ISBN 978-0801855832 (Google Books)

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[SFC-1] Leonnig, Carol D. (May 3, 2008). "Yosemite's Wawona Tunnel could be dangerous". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 November 2012.

[YosemiteFAQ-2] Rabold, John (November 2010). "Yosemite FAQs". A Guide to Yosemite National Park. Retrieved 10 November 2012.

[VT-3] Travis, Virginia. "Yosemite National Park: Wawona Tunnel". Retrieved 10 November 2012.

[4] The long Devil's Slide Tunnel in Pacifica, California, scheduled to open in 2013, is 4,149 feet (1,265 m) long; Dot.ca.gov/dist4: Devil's Slide; The Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, California is 3,771 feet (1,149 m) long. Both measured in their longest bores).

[AdamsA-5] "Ansel Adams: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea exhibition opens in London". The Guardian. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.