Saturday, November 5, 2016

The Tunnel !!

I had a few questions yesterday about the tunnel that was in my area some years ago.  Today I'm sharing a little more info on The Baytown La Porte Tunnel.

The two-lane tunnel was called the Baytown-La Porte Tunnel and was opened in 1953, replacing the Morgan's Point ferry. Like the name says, the 4,000-foot long tunnel connected Baytown and La Porte underneath the Houston Ship Channel.

It had the capacity to handle about 25,000 vehicles a day in its 36 feet diameter interior that included three inches of steel and concrete lining.  After the Fred Hartman bridge was finished and open the tunnel was dismantled and moved away.

When I was in high school,  many, many years ago, most of the boys had loud mufflers (pipes) on their cars.  It was great fun to go through the tunnel and listen to those 'pipes' roar!  The echo was awesome!  It was fun at the time, and I would probably still think it fun today!

The only time going through the tunnel made me nervous was when I would go through either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.  At that time the sun is low in the sky blinding you as you entered the tunnel.  You couldn't see anything but a black hole in front of you, of course, once you passed a certain point you were out of the sunshine and into the lights of the tunnel.  BTW, the tunnel was east/west....so either way you had full sun in your eyes.

Hope you're having a
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Saturday!

Until Next Time



7 comments:

  1. Love the photos and memories. I can just imagine the roar of the cars and that blinding sun! Tunnels, bridges etc. make me kinda nervous!
    Have a lovely Sat.

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  2. That is amazing! Looks so futuristic. I am kinda sad it is no longer in use!

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  3. Love the Mary Poppins reference☺. Have a beautiful day, friend.

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  4. Thanks so much for the tunnel info. The thing is that I don't like bridges either. Lol Yes, way too many fears! Would you believe I just thought about that word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious on Friday! Our boys were doing their spelling test and I remembered that I used to could spell that word! Like Minds! Kindred Souls! Love you!

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  5. Thank you for this further info on the tunnel. That is very interesting! I am not a big fan of tunnels, being a bit claustrophobic...but they are still fascinating feats of engineering! Loved the picture with the old 50's cars. Those were the days, huh???

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  6. How interesting! I remember going through tunnels on the PA turnpike years and years and years ago. It was always just a little scary but also exhilarating and fun! The radio would stop working and than blast out as you emerged from the other end. Your tunnel looks like it was clean and bright. The ones I remember were dingy and dark. I'll take a bridge or ferry today!! :)

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  7. Quite an interesting tunnel. I'm not fond of going through tunnels but they sure are helpful. I can just imagine those mufflers in the tunnel and the racket they made!

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