Auburn Tunnel facts for kids
Overview | |
---|---|
Location | Auburn, Pennsylvania |
Coordinates | 40°36′48″N 76°06′56″W / 40.61333°N 76.11556°W |
Status | open cut, abandoned |
System | Schuylkill Canal |
Operation | |
Work begun | 1818 |
Closed | 1857, converted to cut |
Owner | Schuylkill Navigation Company |
Technical | |
Length | 450 feet (140 m) |
Highest elevation | 471 feet (144 m) above Delaware River, mid tide |
Tunnel clearance | 22 feet (6.7 m) |
Width | 15 feet (4.6 m) |
Auburn Tunnel was a 19th-century canal tunnel built for the Schuylkill Canal near Auburn, Pennsylvania. It was the first transportation tunnel in the United States.
The tunnel was deliberately added to the canal as a novelty, as the hill it was bored though could have easily been bypassed. It became a major attraction, with people traveling over 97 miles (156 km) upriver from Philadelphia to see it. It was periodically shortened, and in 1857 was daylighted to become an open-cut.
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Auburn Tunnel Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.