Cave Rock Tunnel; US Route 50 Lake Tahoe

Back in 2016 I visited the Cave Rock Tunnel on US Route 50 on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nevada.

The Cave Rock Tunnel is a dual-bore tunnel through a rock formation of the same name. The Cave Rock Tunnel was intended as a replacement of the original alignment of US 50 which was routed on the South Branch of the Lincoln Highway. Prior to the Cave Rock Tunnel being built traffic had to use a one-lane swing bridge located on the edge of Cave Rock which dated back to 1863. Ruins of the bridge abutment are still present on the western section of Cave Rock overlooking Lake Tahoe.

The 1931 Cave Rock Tunnel bore is 157 feet in length and presently serves US 50 West traffic. The eastbound Cave Rock Tunnel much longer at 410 feet in length and was completed in 1957. When I arrived at Cave Rock in 2016 the 1931 bore was under going a seismic retrofit which included a concrete liner and a rock shed on the end of the tunnel. In the photo below US 50 traffic is shown two-way via the 1957 Cave Rock bore.

The link below shows a photo of the original Cave Rock alignment of US 50 next to the 1931 bore.

http://www.cityconcierge.com/lake-tahoe/activities/cave-rock.asp

I was provided with a link by NE2 on AAroads for the book; Cave Rock: Climbers, Courts, and a Washoe Indian Scared Place. On page 40 a picture of the Cave Rock Bridge can be seen:

https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZmpE-AymmsC&pg=PA48-IA1&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

Comments

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley. To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker. Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language. The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246. CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County. CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward. South of CA 127 ...

New Idria Road to the New Idria ghost town

New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County. From Panoche Road to approximately 20.6 miles to the south the corridor is maintained as the paved San Benito County Road 107. The remaining 0.9 miles to the New Idria ghost town are no longer maintained and have eroded into a high clearance dirt roadway. Upon reaching New Idria the roadway continues south as Clear Creek Road which passes through the Bureau of Land Management owned Clear Creek Management Area. The New Idria Mercury Mine claim was staked in 1854. Following the theme set by New Almaden the community and mine of New Idria were named after the famous Slovenian mercury mining town of Idrija. Following a slow start the mines of New Idria would boom and the community would reach a peak population of approximately 4,000 by 1880. New Idria Road and Panoche Road were constructed to facilitate stage travel to San Juan Bautista...

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog