Amid October 1924 storms and setbacks, the Moffat Tunnel project reached 25% completion, showcasing Colorado’s enduring pioneering spirit.
Moffat Tunnel Construction Happenings from 100 Years Ago
In October 1924, the Moffat Tunnel project encountered an early winter. A severe rainstorm-turned-snowstorm interrupted communications over Rollins Pass and suspended the power supply at the West Portal. East Portal recorded two feet of snow.
As the snow continued to fall, so did the tasks piling up on the agenda for the Moffat Tunnel Commission, which required a quicker pace. According to the Steamboat Pilot on October 8, 1924, “The work of the commission now is getting so heavy that [Moffat Tunnel Commission] President Robinson is insisting upon a meeting of the full board once a month, and frequently it will be necessary to hold meetings twice a month.”
Despite these challenges, October saw a momentous milestone: the Moffat Tunnel project reached an estimated 25% completion. The pioneer bore—referred to in October 1924 almost exclusively by its intended function as the Moffat Water Tunnel—was nearly one-third complete. According to official estimates from the Commission, “Progress records show that 28 per cent of the main heading drilling in the railroad tunnel proper has been completed, that 31 per cent of the pioneer water tunnel has been dug, and that about 37 per cent of the crosscuts linking the water tunnel to the railroad bore has been finished to date.” Yet, only 7% of the entire railroad tunnel had been completed to its full size, as the work of enlarging the tunnel remained slow and arduous. Seven crosscuts were finished, and the construction of an eighth was underway. Progress since July, when the project was one-fifth complete, demonstrated the team’s determined pace in reaching the one-quarter mark in just a few months.
In tandem with the tunnel work, new infrastructure emerged. A rock crusher and screening plant was built at East Portal, where extracted rock would be crushed and used as ballast for the railroad bed within the completed tunnel. The rock would also be mixed into concrete to reinforce weaker tunnel sections. Eventually, this plant would be relocated to West Portal, a cost-saving decision allowing the Commission to avoid duplicating equipment and infrastructure at both portals.
The workforce was formidable: 630 men, with 370 stationed at the West Portal in Grand County and approximately 270 at the East Portal in Gilpin County. Despite the high numbers, the need for more hard rock drillers persisted. Forty children attended schools at both portals, adding a touch of domesticity to the challenging environment.
Despite the determined progress, tunneling efforts at the West Portal continued to be hampered by “soft ground,” with an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 feet of it remaining by mid-month—a situation that concerned the Commission as “this is adding tremendously to the expense.” The Steamboat Pilot reported on October 15, “At the East Portal, where the tunnel has been driven inward steadily, ahead of schedule cost, hard rock has been encountered from the first blast and from every indication will last for miles more. At the west end, however, progress, altho [sic] kept up with schedule time, is adding greatly to the costs thru [sic] the necessity of timbering virtually every foot of the way. Continued soft rock at this portal may mean that the total cost of the bore will exceed the original estimates and appropriations for the tunnel.” The added cost of timbering led to estimates that the railroad bore would cost $115 to $150 more per foot compared to tunneling through hard rock.
When asked to define the rock structure at the West Portal, the chief engineer said, “A hard biotite gneiss, broken by slickensided seams, slightly permeated with water, shot with feldspar.” Upon hearing this description, workers said, “This sounded pretty good. The ‘tite’ part of ‘biotite’ was fine, ‘Gneiss’ being pronounced ‘nice,’ a little water hurts no man, and while we had never been shot with feldspar, we were not adverse [sic] to that sensation, so felt better.” When workers examined the rock, their response was, “Soft and wet, all shot to hell.” Indeed, workers encountered rocks so soft they could be excavated by hand.
This soft rock did offer a minimal excavation cost saving, though “this is eaten up many times over, however, by the expense of timbering…. The water tunnel at the West end is in 4,740 feet. Every inch so far has been soft rock. From every indication the soft ground will prevail in from 6,000 to 7,500 feet from the portal…”
Geologists attributed the soft rock to “a gigantic slip in the mountains, when some part of James P[eak] fell down from its resting place millions of years ago, a broken gneiss seam with talc filled fissures. The talc, formed as the rocks broke and rubbed together when the fault slipped, gives the rock a tendency to slip.”
Other news in October 1924 was dominated by two major stories. First was the death of Colonel William G. Evans, described as “one of the last of the older state builders who devoted much of their lives to obtaining necessary rail lines for the growth of the city and state.” Evans, a critical advocate for the Moffat Tunnel bill, died of heart disease at age 65.
The other major story centered on the upcoming 1924 election, with Vice President Calvin Coolidge running for the presidency against John W. Davis after President Warren G. Harding’s death in office.
As autumn celebrations and gatherings approached, the Rocky Mountain News on October 29, 1924, offered a glimpse into the tunnel camps: “Hungry men don’t work well and there no hungry men working on the tunnel. Virtually the full twenty-four hours of the day the cooks are preparing a meal or clearing up from one already served to lay out another. The stewards found out early that it takes just so much food to sustain a working man, no matter how many meals he takes to get it, so every man in camp is welcome to the table for every meal served to any of the three shifts into which they are divided. The salary of the lowest paid workers at the camps is $4.50 a day. A charge of $1.50 is made for meals and lodging, with no limit on the meals to those eating at the camp dining houses. Some after taking three meals with their own shift, join the next crew at another and a few hardy souls interrupt their sleep regularly to get up, dress, and slip in a fifth meal when the dinner gong rings for still another shift.”
Entertainment options included recreation halls with pool and billiards tables, movies shown three times a week, weekly dances, and general stores stocked with everything from baby toys to rubber boots. For medical needs, the hospitals (at each portal) were fully equipped with physicians, nurses, operating rooms, and X-ray facilities to handle both routine care and emergencies.
Perhaps the most amusing insight came from the dining setup: “Underground workers pack their own lunches, cafeteria style, before going on for the day. The food is laid out and each man takes what he likes. A few epicureans content themselves with five or six pieces of pie and nothing else, or perhaps, as many pieces of cake, instead of the customary sandwiches.”
Despite facing relentless natural obstacles and mounting costs, the Moffat Tunnel project pressed forward, propelled by the dedication of its workers and the resilience of its engineers. October 1924 underscored the determination required to drive such a massive undertaking toward completion. The hardships endured—from brutal winter conditions and soft, unstable ground to the sheer physical demands placed on hundreds of laborers—were matched only by the sense of community that grew around the project. With recreation halls, dances, and well-equipped medical facilities, those involved found ways to build a life amid the labor. As the Moffat Tunnel steadily took shape, it became not just a feat of engineering but a testament to the pioneering spirit that defined early Colorado.
B. Travis Wright, MPS | Preserve Rollins Pass | October 30, 2024
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