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N0KFQ > TODAY 19.10.14 17:06l 53 Lines 2356 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 38324_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 19
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 141019/1500Z 38324@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Oct 19, 1869:
Construction begins on the Sutro Tunnel in Virginia City, Nevada
On this day in 1869, the famous Prussian-born mining engineer,
Adolph Sutro, begins work on one of the most ambitious western
engineering projects of the day: a four-mile-long tunnel through
the solid rock of the Comstock Lode mining district.
One of the richest silver deposits in the world, the Comstock
Lode had been discovered by prospectors in 1859, and it quickly
became the focus of the most intensive mining activity in the
West. But as miners sank shafts ever deeper into the rock in
search of more silver and gold, they began to encounter large
amounts of water that had to be pumped to the surface at great
expense. If only some means could be found to drain the water
horizontally, the mining companies would save a fortune.
Adolph Sutro's tunnel was intended to do just that. Sutro-who had
already demonstrated his technical brilliance by inventing a new
way to extract silver from waste rock-proposed to blast a large
horizontal tunnel right through the rock of the neighboring Mt.
Davidson and straight into the heart of the Comstock mine. Mine
water would thus drain through the tunnel without need for
expensive pumps, and the mining companies would also be able to
use the tunnel to move men and ore in and out of the mine,
greatly reducing transportation costs.
While all involved agreed that technically Sutro's tunnel would
be a boon to the Comstock, progress on the project was
continually slowed down by resistance from some of the major
mining interests who feared that Sutro would use his tunnel to
take control of the entire lode. Only after securing European
capital was Sutro able to complete the $5-million project in
1878.
Every bit as successful as promised, the Sutro tunnel drained
some two million gallons of water from the mines per year and
greatly reduced transportation costs. Unfortunately, by 1878, the
richer sections of the Comstock Lode had been tapped out, and the
mine had begun to steadily decline in profitability. Sutro,
though, succeeded in selling his tunnel in 1879 at a fantastic
profit. He moved to San Francisco where he became one of the
city's largest landowners as well as the city's mayor from 1894
to 1896.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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