Nostalgia & History > ATSF's involvement in Nuclear project "Carryall"

I read in an American History magazine that the ATSF approached the AEC in 1962 about using hydrogen bombs to cut a passage through the Bristol Mountains. Sounds like the state was on board and would have joined in for an I40 alignment.

Does anyone know the details of this project? The article is more about the technology that would have been used vs the alignment and route. The project was dropped in 1966.

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There were all kinds of projects proposed in the 50's and early 60's.
The AEC was very big on trying to find peaceful uses for the atom.

I recall some Santa Fe publicity about this project.  It would have straightened out the railroad and reduced grades.  According to Wikipedia, it was called Project Carryall. It would have involved 22 nuclear explosions to cut a trench through the Bristol mountains.  It also would have accommodated the interstate highway.  

And killed off all the customers from radiation and dust...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read in an American History magazine that the
> ATSF approached the AEC in 1962 about using
> hydrogen bombs to cut a passage through the
> Bristol Mountains. Sounds like the state was on
> board and would have joined in for an I40
> alignment.

While there had been many "ideas" of using nuclear devices to "excavate" (like a new Panama Canal), the Bristol Mountain project was not going to use "hydrogen bombs".  Nor was any other excavation project.  The nuclear devices for such projects were small, non-thermonuclear, and used in multiple depending on the project.  Nothing ever came of any project in the realm of excavation.

Not completely true it was tested at the Nevada Test Range.  In a tour to see Yucca Mountain in the early 2000's our tour bus stopped at a location where a moutain had been, completely gone.  This was however in ther confines of the Nevada Test Range.  Concept tested there but not repeated.

This was in my ATSF file.

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The overall effort was called Project Plowshare, and did, indeed, involve finding peaceful uses for nuclear power.  Realigning highways, creating new reservoirs, even a prophetic version of fracking for natural gas.

https://st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/plowshare-program

I believe the nuclear powered merchant ship NS Savannah was also an attempt to use atomic power for a peaceful purpose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah

Brian

Talk about misplaced optimism! We were all supposed to have nuclear reactors in our homes as well!