(The following article by Chris Sebastian was posted on the Port Huron Times Herald website on December 8.)
PORT HURON, Mich. — More than a century ago, engineers and business leaders couldn’t fathom a train tunnel beneath the St. Clair River.
Reality, driven by economic growth, overtook any lack of imagination, and a tunnel was built. And then a second.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the second, modern tunnel connecting Port Huron and Sarnia. Major businesses couldn’t imagine life without the 1.1-mile-long commercial link.
While the tunnel structurally hasn’t changed much since a specially built boring machine punched through the riverbed’s clay Dec. 8, 1994, issues such as security of the site continues to evolve — especially in the post Sept. 11 world.
The Canadian National Railroad-owned tunnel was renamed last week to the Paul M. Tellier Tunnel, in honor of CN’s chief executive officer from 1992 to 2002.
Experts said the tunnel met the economic needs for which it was built. They expect the need for quick commercial transportation between the United States and Canada to grow.
The tunnel, which is next to the abandoned 19th-century tunnel it replaced, is now part of the local landscape. People living near the tracks said the noise blends into the neighborhood they call home.
Tom Venohr, 29, lives on 13th Street and couldn’t say how many trains pass by each day.
“That’s how used to it I am; I don’t even notice it anymore,” he said.
Historical sibling
Motorists passing over the tracks on 16th Street only have to look east to see the dark mouth to the Tellier tunnel.
The tunnel, finished in 1994, sits next to the tunnel finished in 1891. At that time, Port Huron and Sarnia were the only cities prior to the 20th century that could claim an underwater, electrified, train tunnel. Its construction was worldwide news.
Early tunnel travelers marveled at the engineering masterpiece, even if the antiquated technology left passengers with choking fumes and black soot on their clothes.
Industrial progress eventually made the original tunnel obsolete. Modern shippers stack cargo on train cars higher than they did 100 years ago, making the original tunnel too small for modern traffic.
Starting in November 1993, work began on the $200 million Tellier tunnel. Using a boring machine that chewed up enough dirt to fill 8,000 garbage trucks, the new tunnel was complete in about a year.
The original tunnel is filled with sand because it would be too expensive to maintain.
While the new passage may not be as old, its importance to the global economy will help ensure its place in history, experts said.
Vital link
International commerce was responsible for about 34% of CN’s revenue last year, and spokesman Mark Hallman said much of that passed through the Tellier tunnel.
“The tunnel has fulfilled a very important role to give CN a direct and seamless access (across the border),” Hallman said.
Since CN has smooth access, so do the businesses that use the company’s lines. General Motors Canada is CN’s largest customer and sends double-stacked container cars through the tunnel.
Eleven years ago, GM and other businesses had to float their cargo across the river on barges or ship it via land.
The American Association of Railroads represents the major freight and passenger railroad companies in North America. Spokesman Tom White said the demand for international lines will increase.
“The passage of (the North American Free Trade Agreement) a number of years ago further increased the demand for freight trains that are going across the borders,” he said.
Secure passage
Safety concerns for the original tunnel 100 years ago meant making sure passengers and workers weren’t overcome by fumes.
Today, the worry is terrorists attacking the tunnel or gaining access to America through it. Hallman said CN was the first railroad company in 2002 to join with the U.S. Customs Bureau to devise a plan against terrorism.
American border agents working in Sarnia use new radiation-scanning devices to peer into freight cars for illegal materials.
“Trains go through the inspection machines at 5 mph. Everything is scanned,” Hallman said.
Because Amtrak this year canceled the only passenger-train service through the tunnel, the passage is exclusively freight.
But White said the industry as a whole is trying to keep rails safe for both people and products.
“The railroads have been very aggressive in planning a security plan and implementing it,” he said.