New River Tunnel

New River Tunnel
Overview
Official name	Henry E. Kinney Tunnel
Other name(s)	New River Tunnel
Location	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Coordinates	26°07′05″N 80°08′13″W / 26.118°N 80.137°WCoordinates: 26°07′05″N 80°08′13″W / 26.118°N 80.137°W
Status	Active
Route	US 1
Operation
Opened	December 9, 1960
Operator	FDOT
Traffic	Automotive/pedestrian
Character	Concrete road tunnel
Technical
Length	864 feet (263.3 m)
No. of lanes	4
Lowest elevation	−35 feet (−11 m)
Tunnel clearance	13.75 feet (4.19 m)
Width	24 feet (7.3 m) not counting the sidewalk
Depth of tunnel below water level	14 feet (4.3 m) above the tunnel at mean low water

The New River Tunnel, officially known as the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel, is a highway tunnel that carries U.S. Route 1 underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The tunnel replaced the Federal Aid Highway Bridge, a drawbridge opened on August 26, 1926, and closed in 1958. Upon its completion in 1960, it was the only operating public tunnel in Florida, until the completion of the Port of Miami Tunnel in 2014, though two private tunnels exist at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista. Alfred Spear built the New River Tunnel. His business, the Thorington Construction Company of Providence, R.I., was responsible for the construction of the project.^[2]

The tunnel was built after a lengthy debate on whether to construct another bridge or a tunnel. The predecessor drawbridge operated so slowly that it sometimes took motorists 45 minutes to cross from one end of the bridge to the other, creating massive traffic jams in the heart of the city.^[3]

In 1986 it was renamed in honor of Henry E. Kinney, who had advocated its construction while he was chief of the Fort Lauderdale/Broward Edition of the Miami Herald newspaper.

References[]

^ "The 1960s: Swinging Sixties bring Spring Breakers and broken barriers". Sun Sentinel. March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
^ "A CASE OF TUNNEL VISION – Sun Sentinel".
^ "KidZone-Henry E. Kinney Tunnel". Florida State Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-07-23.

External links[]

SouthEastRoads, collection of pictures of the Southeastern U.S. highway network

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[sunsentinel-1] "The 1960s: Swinging Sixties bring Spring Breakers and broken barriers". Sun Sentinel. March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-10.

[2] "A CASE OF TUNNEL VISION – Sun Sentinel".

[tunnel-3] "KidZone-Henry E. Kinney Tunnel". Florida State Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-07-23.

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v t Notable bridges and tunnels in Florida
Panhandle	Escambia Bay Garcon Point John Gorrie Mid-Bay Pensacola Bay St. George Island Trammell Victory
North	Acosta Bridge of Lions Main Street Buckman Dames Point Fuller Warren Hart Mathews Memorial Strauss Trunnion
West Central	Bayside Clearwater Memorial Courtney Campbell Gandy Howard Frankland Pinellas Bayway Sunshine Skyway Treasure Island
East Central	A. Max Brewer Astor Bennett Bert Dosh Broadway Eau Gallie Granada Melbourne Merritt Island NASA Osteen Mid-Bay Bridge Pineda Port Orange Roosevelt Sebastian Inlet Wabasso Merrill P. Barber Alma Lee Loy Whitehair
South	Broad Coral Springs^† Julia Tuttle John F. Kennedy Lehman MacArthur Rickenbacker Snow-Reed^‡ Venetian
Southwest	Blackburn Point Bridge^‡ Boca Grande^‡ Bonita Beach Caloosahatchee Cape Coral Edison John Ringling Matanzas Pass Midpoint Sanibel S.S. Jolley
Keys	Bahia Honda Card Sound Jewfish Creek Long Key Overseas Highway Seven Mile
Tunnels	Henry E. Kinney Port of Miami
Ferries	Drayton Island Fort Gates Mayport
Lists	List of bridges in Florida List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida List of movable bridges in Florida
^† – Covered bridge ^‡ – Swing bridge