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Show Mountain Conquering Project Gets Under Way; r'"' ;V'S .VC-: . ..... .. .- ri EXCAVATION BEGINS ON 13,900-FOOT BINGHAM-TOOELE TUNNEL Steam shovel digging toward proposed bore portal. Work Is Launched on Tunnel To Link Bingham and Tooele Million Dollar 23,000-Foot Bore Under Oquirrh Range Started Excavation began Monday for the long-contemplated Bingham-Tooele Bingham-Tooele drainage and transportation tunnel, thus fulfilling quarter of a century dreams of Utah mining men. contractors, said excavation of the 800-foot open cut necessary tor start of actual tunneling will be completed complet-ed In approximately three weeks and ths railroad in about three months. Hs estimated actual tunneling tun-neling would begin in stout two weeks. On hand Monday morning when the first earth for the cut was broken, about one mile west of the smelter, were J. O. Elton, general manager of the International Smelting Smelt-ing and Refining company and vice president and general manager of I the National Tunnel and Mines com-Ipany; com-Ipany; J. F. Dugan, superintendent of mines for the International company; com-pany; Mr. Ryberg, J. E. Johnson, superintendent of operations for the contractors; J. E. Norden, general manager of the tunnel company, and (Continued on rj etvtnl Column rlvt A steam shovel bit Into the earth' near ths International Smelting and Refining company smelter at Tooele, signaling start of a 23,000-foot tunnel tun-nel linking both sides of the Oquirrh range at a cost estimated between $750,000 and $1,000,000. Officials estimated the job would be completed in less thsn two years. The -nearly five-mile bore will drain a vast area beneath the Bingham Bing-ham mining sector, link, many underground un-derground operations, provide ore transportation and maks from to 20 second feet of water available for Industrial and irrigatlonal purposes. pur-poses. Construction of the tunnel will be In charge of the National Tunnel and Mines' company, formed by merging the old Utah Apex Mining company and the Delaware Mining company, a subsidiary of the International Inter-national company. Ryberg Brothers, contractors, are doing the open cut excavation to the tunnel portal and will build soma 2.8 miles of railroad spur to the main line of the Tooele Valley railroad, and construct other trackage track-age in yards at the tunnel mouth. W. E. Ryberg of Ryberg Brothers, WORK LAUNCHED I Oil GIANT BORE (Ooatknea Me Feee Oee) J. T. Russell, mechanical superintendent superin-tendent of the emelter. The open cut will be MO feet long. II feet wide at bottom aad M feet daap at the tunnel entrance. The tunnel Itself, Mr. Xltos aald, will be 11 by U feet with s four-foot drainage ditch and with a standard gauge railroad track. The tunnel grade will be approximately a IT-foot IT-foot rise per mile from the portal. The tunnel will follow underground under-ground on a line nearly paralleling an aerial tramway from Bingham to tha Smelter. The tunnel win Intersect the Rood shaft of the old Utah Apex mine at about the 1800-foot level. The Utah Apex mine la la Carr fork of Bingham Bing-ham canyon. The tunnel wlH pass about M0 feet underground, beneath the emelter, end It Is thought a raise will be driven from the bore to the sur-i sur-i face Is the emelter area. Approximately U to 40 men and a doaen trucks will be employed m excavaUng the cut and grading aur- program la connection with the tunnel. tun-nel. Meetings were held last year on the subject between Governor Henry H. Blood and water development de-velopment committee; The Bingham-Tooele tunnel has long bean dreamed of by mining men and s company waa formed nearly 10 years ago to further the project, but obstacles throughout years prevented start ef tha bore until now. rounding country for a railroad yard and other surface operations at the i portal entrance. As the tunnel level is from 1000 to MOO feet lower than present entrances en-trances to Bingham's underground mines, the bore Is expected to facilitate fa-cilitate mining at depth, save pumping pump-ing coats, eliminate hoisting and reduce re-duce transportation coats. An interesting possibility of the bore la the construction of lateral extensions to properties other than the former Utah Apex and Delaware Dela-ware properties Beceuae of additional water expected ex-pected to be made available for Irrigation, Ir-rigation, Tooele residents have long been planning a water development A . A |