Bankhead Tunnel

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Bankhead Tunnel


caption= U.S. 98 entering the Bankhead Tunnel traveling eastbound.
official_name=
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carries= 2 lanes of U.S. Route 98
crosses= Mobile River
locale= Mobile, Alabama
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design= submerged tunnel
mainspan=
length=3,389 feet (1033 m)
width=
clearance=
below=40 ft (12.2 m)
traffic=
open=February 20, 1941 (built 1938-1942)
closed=
toll=1941 to mid-1970s
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coordinates= coord|30|41|30|N|88|02|09|W|region:US_type:landmark
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[
Bankhead Tunnel path under the Mobile River, connecting Government Street to Battleship Parkway on Blakeley Island.] The Bankhead Tunnel is a tunnel in Mobile, Alabama that begins on Government Street in downtown Mobile, travels eastbound under the Mobile River, and emerges to join the Battleship Parkway. "Mobile City Guide" (map, landmarks), Southeast Roads, June 2006, webpage: [http://www.southeastroads.com/mobile_guide.html SER-Bankhead] .] "Frequently Asked Questions - Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce" (notes), Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, 2006, webpage: [http://www.mobilechamber.com/faq.asp MCCOM-FAQ] .] It is named for John Hollis Bankhead, an Alabama politician and U.S. Senator who was also the grandfather of actress Tallulah Bankhead. It, like the larger George Wallace Tunnel a few blocks downriver from it, was constructed in Mobile at the shipyards of the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO) from 1938-1940. The eastern end of the Bankhead Tunnel features a large "flood door" that can be closed to prevent water from Mobile Bay from flooding the tunnel during hurricane storm surges.

History

The tunnel was built in sections and floated to the proper positions, then sunk. Each section was sunk next to the previous section and joined underwater. When all sections were connected, and concrete set into place, they were pumped dry and finished out. The depth of clearance is 40 ft (12.2 m) for the ship channel over the tunnel. It was completed in 1940 at a cost of $4 million and opened to the public on February 20, 1941. A toll fee was charged at the east side, from 1941 to the mid-1970s, when the toll plaza was dismantled. The tube carries two lanes of travel, and no pedestrian or non-motorized vehicular traffic is permitted.

The tunnel was designed and construction directed by Wayne Palmer, himself of Mobile Alabama. Only passenger cars and pickup trucks are still allowed to travel through the tunnel, as it is very narrow. Large trucks and hazardous cargo are routed (on U.S. 90/Truck U.S. 98) over the Cochrane-AfricaTown Bridge miles to the north or the George Wallace Tunnel on Interstate 10 a few blocks to the south. The tunnel was a location for a scene in director Steven Spielberg's film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", largely filmed around the Mobile area: Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) drives through the tunnel as he chases UFOs. It is also featured in a motorcycle chase scene in a 1991 Brian Bosworth movie, "Stone Cold".

References

External links

* Picture on postcard: [http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/FIP/AL-00033-C~Bankhead-Tunnel-Mobile-Alabama-Posters.jpgBankhead Tunnel postcard] .

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Mobile River
bridge = Bankhead Tunnel
bridge signs =
upstream = Cochrane-Africatown USA Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = George Wallace Tunnel
downstream signs =