MCRR Tunnel Sections

MCRR Tunnel Sections Built - 1909 262.5 ft. x 56 ft. Great Lakes Engineering Works built 11 double-tubed railroad tunnel sections at their shipyard located just south of St. Clair in East China Township. Each tunnel section was temporarily sealed with wood to create buoyancy. They were then towed downriver to Detroit where the wood was removed. Each tunnel section was then sunk in a trench dug in the bottom of the Detroit River just north of where the Ambassador Bridge is located. Divers guided each section into place in the trench, then bolted them together. Portland cement was then poured around the sections to seal them. The top of the tunnel was flush with the river bottom. The 1.6 mile long Michigan Central Railroad tunnel opened in 1910 connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. It was the first immersed tube tunnel in the world to carry traffic. The tunnel was used in its original design until 1992 when the north tube was closed and expanded to accommodate higher container rail traffic.

As you walked south from the “Starting Point” plaque to this location on the St. Clair River Boardwalk, the brass plaque marked MCRR Tunnel Sections on the boardwalk represents the end of one of the sections of the Michigan Central Tunnel sections.  The brass plaque at the Starting Point represents the stern or back of every ship included in this walking tour. By looking back to the starting point, you are able to get an estimate of the size or 262.5 ft. length of just one of the 11 tunnel sections.

St. Clair, by Charles Homberg, St. Clair Historical Commission, 2007; St. Clair Historical Museum and Research Center archives; Great Lakes Ships data base, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Alpena, Michigan; Great Lakes Freighters by Rand Shackleton, Thunder Bay Press, 2003.