Western Railroad Discussion > UP Cascades Sub. Tunnel 11 Update

I went to a meeting today and heard a lot of information about the Tunnel 11 issues. As by now most know, Tunnel 11 on Union Pacific's Cascade Subdivision in Oregon had a cave-in on May 29th. The line is still closed and UP's latest update is predicting June 23rd for tentative re-opening.

First, I finally heard there were fortunately no injuries or deaths when the tunnel caved in. One employee was feared buried at the time but later he was found safe. When the cave-in occurred all but one employee ran northward out of the tunnel; that one "missing" employee ran south. Fortunately he did make it safely out of the area of the cave-in but because he had no communication with the rest of the crew nobody knew his fate for a while. As a note, this was evidently an outside contractor who was working on this tunnel.

The cave-in had a footprint inside the tunnel of approximately 80-90 feet. The cave-in occurred towards the north end of the tunnel just inside the portal (don't know how far in). The void created reaches the top of the ridge above the tunnel creating a shaft down into the tunnel. There is an ongoing issue of material falling into this shaft and down into the tunnel.

Due to the very limited access this location provides, plus the very limited room inside the tunnel, progress at clearing the tunnel is painfully slow - they have only made approximately 30 feet of progress. Only a single front-end loader can get into the tunnel but it is very limited in what it can do; much of the work is literally being done by hand. Once loaded the front-end loader has to back out and then dump the material into some sort of dump truck, which has to either hi-rail in or drive up the tracks (wasn't made clear). That truck then has to haul the material to another location approved by the US Forest Service for dumping. While they are doing all they can it is a very slow process.

There were stories of a fire in the tunnel a short while back. That was discounted as false but as it turns out there was indeed a fire up there. With that shaft dropping from the ridge above the tunnel into the tunnel, and the resulting water and material continuing to fall into the tunnel, a helicopter was used to drop straw into the shaft in the hopes it would bind with the rock and reduce, or stop, debris from falling into the tunnel. Somehow the straw caught on fire, which was mistaken by somebody as the tunnel was on fire.

In the photos below, which were posted before, you can see the concrete removed and "new" steel lining. That steel lining had been installed over the last few months as part of the ongoing repairs to this tunnel as previously reported on TO. There has been a very large flow of water down through the rock and roof of the tunnel for quite some time, part of which was causing the initial issues that started the repairs to the tunnel. For some time prior to the cave-in they had been having a window during the day to give the tunnel contractor time to work uninterrupted but obviously on May 29th things went very badly.

Hopefully UP and the contractor can beat this situation soon and get the line re-opened.

Any updates by anybody more "in the know" would be appreciated; my information is generally second and third hand.

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Update: Photo(s) deleted because there are thieves on Trainorders who download and then use other peoples' photos in books, or simply print and sell the prints, for their own enrichment!!! I don't mind downloading them for your personal enjoyment but I draw the line at selling them or publishing them and claiming they are yours. Sorry I have to do this but the actions of a few screw it up for all.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/20 11:54 by Railbaron.

Thanks for the update! Truly looks like a nightmare.

Thanks very much for the update! Sounds like they really need one of these, and a train with a side dump and a bunch of reach cars to keep the locomotive out of the tunnel (5-pack spine cars make excellent reach cars BTW).

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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funnelfan Wrote:
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> ... Sounds like they really need one of these, and a train with a side
> dump and a bunch of reach cars to keep the locomotive out of the tunnel (5-pack spine cars
> make excellent reach cars BTW).


That'd work!!!

OSHA has stringent requirements for working underground in situations such as this to prevent cave-ins from causing death or serious injury. The most basic requirement is that tunnels be shored up to prevent collapse. This requirement also applies to trenches and other excavations where employees must work. To comply, steel trench boxes must be used, or the excavation must be sloped back on a 1 to 1 ratio.

Thanks for the update. Sometimes what actually happens is beyond the imagination of even TrainOrders subscribers. The cave-in going all the way to the top of the ridge is pretty wild.

This sounds more and more like the Blossburg tunnel collapse on the MRL back in 2009. That job had a chimney of lose rock that had to be stopped before the work could get past it. Although it didn't break the surface, much lose material was coming in from well toward the surface. As I recall they could get it to stop for a little while and during those pauses they shot tons of shotcrete into the opening at the bottom to plug it. Once they got it stopped enough to get steel under it, they drove spiling ahead of them, over the steel supports until they got enough open ground to put in another steel set, which they then used to support another round of spiling into the unsupported ground and continue until they reached solid ground. The spiling in the third photo is those lengths of channel that are driven horizontally forward into the lose ground over the top of the steel support rings. Once they got the supporting steel through the lose ground under the void they pumped more concrete onto the top of the supporting steel to build a rock cap over the steel.

One thing that MRL learned in the process was to get rid of the engineers and bring in experienced miners who knew how to drive a tunnel. Engineers like theory and new machines like TBMs, but miners understood bad ground and fractured rock and how to push through it, even if it meant pneumatic equipment and mucking machines.

I'm not quite sure what the men are doing in the third photo. It almost looks like they'r blowing powdered limestone onto the rock to reflect light and make it easier to see. One wouldn't shoot shotcrete onto a face they're working, and spraying water on unsupported ground like that could lead to a quick disaster.

steeplecab
BTDT, paid for college that way



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/18 21:34 by steeplecab.

To those in the know, thanks for the pics & explanation. Greatly appreciated.

A similar thing happened when Conrail went to widen and improve clearances in the ALLEGHENY tunnel on the Pittsburgh line at Galitzen PA. A big hole opened up in some bodies back yard.

Looks like they are misting water onto the hay that caught fire in the one image.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
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> Looks like they are misting water onto the hay
> that caught fire in the one image.


Don't know what they are doing but the thing has two hoses going to it usually fire hose is only one not two.

BAB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> funnelfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Looks like they are misting water onto the hay
> > that caught fire in the one image.
>
>
> Don't know what they are doing but the thing has
> two hoses going to it usually fire hose is only
> one not two.

Where is the second hose and nozzle? I see only one of each.

The 2nd hose is a smaller reddish color. It is wrapped around the operators right arm and the guy standing has his foot on it and the larger diameter hose.

Maybe they are trying to spray something up into the "chimney" to stabilize it.?.





HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BAB Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > funnelfan Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Looks like they are misting water onto the
> hay
> > > that caught fire in the one image.
> >
> >
> > Don't know what they are doing but the thing
> has
> > two hoses going to it usually fire hose is only
> > one not two.
>
> Where is the second hose and nozzle? I see only
> one of each.

Posted from Android

ActionMike Wrote:
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> The 2nd hose is a smaller reddish color. It is
> wrapped around the operators right arm and the guy
> standing has his foot on it and the larger
> diameter hose.
>
> Maybe they are trying to spray something up into
> the "chimney" to stabilize it.?.


That smaller red hose might be compressed air from a large air compressor.


> HotWater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > BAB Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > funnelfan Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Looks like they are misting water onto the
> > hay
> > > > that caught fire in the one image.
> > >
> > >
> > > Don't know what they are doing but the thing
> > has
> > > two hoses going to it usually fire hose is
> only
> > > one not two.
> >
> > Where is the second hose and nozzle? I see
> only
> > one of each.
>
> Posted from Android

In fundamental terms, the engineering report on the Nelson Bennett tunnel in Tacoma says that the result of an attempt to double track it for double stacks would look like this. That's why it is and will remain single track.

TAW

Picture 3 looks like the crew is trying to shoot shotcrete on the exposed surface of vertical shaft that's opened up, in an attempt to stabilize the sides of the shaft.
This would form a crust on the earth and rock in the ceiling to slow down or stop the collapse of material from above.

Posted from Android

rhotond Wrote:
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> A similar thing happened when Conrail went to
> widen and improve clearances in the ALLEGHENY
> tunnel on the Pittsburgh line at Galitzen PA. A
> big hole opened up in some bodies back yard.


Along with breaking through a old mine shaft that no one new it was there

Fred