The west portal of the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel is the highest point on the US Interstate system. This is also the longest tunnel on the I-system that does not pass under water.
According to Matt Salek's excellent Colorado I-70 website, the west portal is 3403 meters above sea level, 44 m higher than the east portal. Construction on the first tube (westbound) began on 13-March-1967, opening on 8-March-1973 and the parallel eastbound tube was completed about 6-7 years later. The tunnel is 2827 m long.
Interesting tidbits...
**The 'Loveland' ski area surrounds the east portal. It is a favorite
skiing haunt of Denver area locals who do not want to lay out the
excessive cash for Aspen or Vail. It is also one of the most readily
accessable of the Colorado ski areas.
**HazMat trucks and all vehicles over 4.1 meters high are prohibited
from the tunnel and must go via US 6 over Loveland Pass (the main
route westward out of Denver before the tunnel opened). The summit of
Loveland Pass is at the lower right corner of this map. Below the
words 'Loveland Pass' is 'BM 11990'.
**There are 'weigh-in-motion' scales in the WB tube, about 800 m from
the west portal. These and other sensors are connected to a computer
that determines the configuration of the various vehicles passing
through the tunnel and then flashes a message on a reader board about
400 m from the portal that says "GEAR DOWN TO (XX) MPH" (often as
slow as 15 mph (25 km/h)). This is to help prevent heavy trucks from
losing control and 'running away' on the several km of westbound 6%
descent that starts right outside the tunnel. There are also two
escape ramps ("Runaway Truck Ramps") on the westbound descent. Last I
checked, there were *no* similar ramps on the 6% descent eastbound
from the tunnel.
What the future holds...
Traffic on I-70 west of Denver has been increasing at a fairly rapid
pace and is beginning to strain the four lanes through the tunnel.
This traffic is especially getting heavy on winter holiday weekends
and during the summer tourist season. There are studies currently
underway to find solutions to this problem. The alternates that seem
to have the most promise include drilling a parallel third tube, and
'reaming' out the existing tubes to allow for a six lane highway
(plus some short term fixes that might include alternate modes and
tolls). Either way, this improvement will not be easy and will be
expensive. I-70 is four lanes westward from the US 6 interchange just
east of Idaho Springs, CO, about 50 km east of the tunnel and six
lanes from there the rest of the way to Denver. The highway is built
on a very narrow right of way in the Clear Creek Canyon near Idaho
Springs, with several sub-minimun speed curves, plus a short four
lane tunnel. Widening I-70 to 6 lanes through there will be a major
engineering feat in itself.
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