Fig. 161.—Relining Timber-Lined Tunnel, Great Northern Ry.
The arch was built up from the springing lines on both sides at the same time, four masons being employed. The rings were built beginning with the intrados, which was brought up, say, a distance of about 2 ft. from the springing line. Then the back of the ring was well plastered with from 3⁄8 in. to 1⁄2 in. of mortar, and the second ring brought up to the same height and plastered on the back, and so on until the last ring was laid. After bringing the full width of the arch up some distance, new laggings were placed on the ribs for an additional height of 2 ft. and the same process was repeated. All the space between the extrados of the masonry arch and the old lining was compactly filled with dry rubble. When high enough so that the hip segments had a foot or more bearing on the masonry the segments were securely wedged and blocked up against the brickwork, and the longitudinal 4 × 6 in. timbers removed. The remaining space was now clear for completion of the arch, and both sides were brought up until there was not sufficient space for four masons to work, when the keying was completed by two masons beginning at the completed and working back toward the toothed end. The brickwork was built from the top of a staging-car.
Cross Section.
Longitudinal Section.
Fig. 162.—Relining Timber-Lined Tunnel, Great Northern Ry.
In a few instances where slides occurred after the removal of the slide timbering, the method of re timbering the tunnel shown in [Fig. 162] was adopted. Two side drifts were first run 21⁄2 ft. wide by 4 ft. high, and the plate timbers placed in position and blocked. Cross drifts were then run, and the roof segments placed, and the core down to the level of the bottoms of the side drifts taken out. The lower wall plates were then placed and the hip segments inserted. The bench was then taken down by degrees, the side plates being held by jacks, and the posts placed one at a time. As the masonry at the points where slides occur consists of 30-in. walls and six-ring arch, the timbering was 22 ft. wide in the clear, with other dimensions as shown in [Fig. 162].
Only a single crew of brick and stone masons was employed. In order to prepare the sections for these masons it was necessary to have timber and trimming crews at work throughout the whole day of 24 hours, so that an engine and two train crews were in constant attendance. The single mason crews were able to complete 8 ft. of side wall and arch in 24 hours. The number of men actually employed at the tunnel was 35. This included electric-light maintenance, and all other labor pertaining to the work. The tunnel was lighted by an Edison dynamo of 20 arc light capacity, one arc light being placed on each side of the tunnel at all working-places. Each lamp carried a coil of wire 20 or 30 ft. long to allow it to be shifted from place to place without delay.
Mullan Tunnel.
—This tunnel is 3,850 ft. long, and crosses the main range of the Rocky Mountains, about 20 miles west of Helena, Mont. The tunnel is on a tangent throughout, and has a grade of 20% falling toward the east. The summit of the grade, west of the tunnel, is 5,548 ft. above sea level, and the mountain above the line of the tunnel rises to an elevation of 5,855 ft. Owing to the treacherous nature of the material through which the tunnel passed, it had been a constant menace to traffic ever since its construction in 1883, and numerous delays to trains had been caused by the falls of rock and fires in the timber lining. For these reasons it was finally decided to build a permanent masonry lining, and work on this was begun in July, 1892.