Take a virtual drive to Whittier via the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. Simply click on a location on the map to scroll directly to photos and information located below.
Both automobiles and trains travel through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to Whittier. Thanks to a unique design, the tunnel allows a single lane of automobile traffic to drive directly over the railroad track area — a design that saved tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new highway tunnel. Automobiles and trains take turns using the tunnel. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities operates the tunnel as a highway most of the day during the summer and winter.
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(left)
The Portage Glacier Highway intersects the Seward
Highway in Portage. Before completion
of the Whittier Access Project, the Portage
Glacier Highway ended at the Begich, Boggs Visitor
Center. The road now extends through the
Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to Whittier.
The road traverses through the Chugach National
Forest.
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Entrance
to Begich, Boggs Visitor Center
(right)
After you have traveled 5
miles from the Seward Highway, you will see
the turn off to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center
on the right. This road will also take you to
Portage Glacier Lodge, Portage Lake dock, and
Byron Glacier. Continue ahead on Portage Glacier
Highway to reach Whittier.
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Begich, Boggs Visitor Center
(left)
The Begich, Boggs Visitor Center
is one of the most visited attractions in Alaska.
The center offers spectacular views of Portage
Lake and the icebergs that calf from Portage Glacier
at the far end of the lake. The center offers
film and interactive exhibits on the Portage Glacier
and the Arctic environment. The United States
Forest Service (USFS) operates the center.
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Portage Creek Bridge
(right)
The Portage Creek Bridge
is a three-span bridge designed and constructed
as part of the Whittier Access Project.
The design is unique for Alaska because the
two piers are founded on 12-foot diameter concrete
drilled shafts. The shafts are drilled over
90 feet to bedrock. The surface of the girders
and piers were sandblasted to produce a rough,
textured surface to blend into the surrounding
rock.
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Portage
Lake Tunnel
(left)
Immediately after passing over
the Portage Creek Bridge, you will travel through
the two-lane Portage Lake Tunnel. This short
highway tunnel (400 feet) was constructed as part
of the first phase of the Whittier Access Project.
The tunnel accommodates two lanes of traffic and
a full paved roadway shoulder. The tunnel
is lighted and has a heated drainage system to
minimize icicles forming during the winter months
when temperatures may drop to -40 degrees F.
The concrete portals were textured and colored
to blend with the surrounding natural rock.
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Rock Cut at Portage Lake
(right)
As you exit the tunnel you
will pass alongside a series of rock slopes.
The rock on the right was left untouched wherever
possible to create a more natural appearance
and to screen the roadway from the Begich, Boggs
Visitor Center. The rock cut to your left
is 160 feet high. It was blasted from inter-bedded
argillite and graywacke rock formations.
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View of Portage Lake and Portage Glacier
(left)
The new highway offers fantastic
views of Portage Lake and Portage Glacier. At
the turn of the century Portage Glacier extended
all the way to the area that is now the road.
It has since retreated about 5 miles and created
Portage Lake. This lake is over 650 feet deep.
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Placer Creek Bridge
(right)
This bridge crosses Placer
Creek, formerly one of the most abundant of
Alaska's creeks for beaver and otter and frequently
used by fur trappers. This area also supports
a rare plant species, the Norberg arnica. The
location of the bridge was changed during design
to avoid impacts to this plant.
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Information
Booths
(left)
As you approach the staging
area, you will see the Tunnel Control Center and
two information booths that will be converted
to tollbooths on April 1, 2001. The attendants
will direct you to the proper staging lane and
answer any questions. They will also provide a
pamphlet that describes how to drive through the
tunnel and also the procedures to follow if your
vehicle or a vehicle near you stops in the tunnel.
Trucks, busses, and wide vehicles will use the
lane on the right. The building on the right
in this photo is the Tunnel Control Center. This
is where the tunnel operator monitors tunnel activities.
See the Tunnel Operations page of this website.
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(right)
The staging area is a parking
area where vehicles will "queue up" to wait
for the tunnel to open. The capacity of the
Bear Valley staging area is 240 cars. Certain
times of the day are reserved for vehicle use
and other times of the day are reserved for
train use. The staging area is made up of lanes
designated for cars, busses, or trucks and is
similar to the staging areas used by the Alaska
Marine Highway System where vehicles wait to
load onto the ferry. Because this is a one-lane
tunnel, highway traffic will change direction
throughout the day. A word of caution:
Bear Valley is notorious for its unpredictable
high winds. While waiting in the staging area,
you should be aware that winds well in excess
of 50 mph may occur at any time.
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Traffic Signals and Changeable Message Sign
(left)
At the end of the staging area
a red/amber/green traffic signal will direct you
to stop or proceed. You will also see a message
sign that provides updates on the tunnel opening.
After the light turns green, cars in that lane
will proceed to the tunnel.
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(right)
At this point you will encounter
a metering signal that will control distance
between vehicles. If the light is green,
you can proceed to the tunnel. For proper
spacing, however, you may get a red signal.
This signal will require you to stop for a few
seconds before proceeding through the tunnel.
Vehicles will be allowed in the tunnel at a
rate of one car or pickup every 2.5 seconds,
one commerical truck or RV every 15 seconds,
and one bus every 45 seconds. Adjacent
to the metering signal is a railroad gate.
If the railroad gate is down, either train or
highway traffic is coming from the opposite
direction through the tunnel.
Never drive around a railroad gate that is down!
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Tunnel
Portal Building
(left)
The A frame portal building
houses the ventilation fans, the garage for fire
trucks, and the electrical sub station.
It was designed to blend into the surrounding
environment. The roof of the tunnel portal building
at the Whittier end is made of 14 inches of concrete
and was designed to withstand a major avalanche.
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Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel
(right)
The Anton Anderson Memorial
Tunnel was originally constructed as a railroad
tunnel during World War II. (See the Project
History page of this website
for more information.) During the winter
of 1998-1999, the rail ties and ballast were
removed and replaced with a concrete driving
surface. The driving surface consists of 7.5-foot-long
and 8-foot-wide precast concrete panels placed
on a bed of crushed rock. Cast-in-place concrete
was placed adjacent to the concrete panels to
form an 11.5-foot-wide paved surface. Notches
in the panels allow the rail to be placed flush
with the surface. Asphalt was placed adjacent
to the rail to provide easy access to repair
the rail. Approximately 610 feet of the tunnel
is lined with corrugated steel plates to control
drainage and icing in the winter. Approximately
2 miles of the tunnel has chain link mesh pinned
to the crown of the tunnel to catch any loose
rocks. The rest of the tunnel is reinforced
by concrete sprayed (shotcrete) on the crown.
The majority of the rock in the tunnel is very
strong and stable. During the 1964 Good Friday
Earthquake (the greatest magnitude earthquake
ever recorded in North America) the tunnel suffered
no significant structural damage and no cave-ins.
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Tunnel
Vehicle Turnout
(left)
At eight locations in the tunnel
there is a vehicle turnout for use only if a vehicle
is disabled. Vehicles in this area will
set off an alarm in the Tunnel Control Center
and traffic waiting to enter the tunnel will be
delayed. Adjacent to this vehicle turnout
is the door into the tunnel safehouse.
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Tunnel Safehouse (interior)
(right)
At each turnout a safe refuge
(safehouse) is provided in the event of a tunnel
fire. Drivers and passengers would be notified
by a strobe light at each turnout to evacuate
their vehicles and proceed to the nearest safehouse
in the event of an emergency that requires tunnel
evacuation. The safehouse is a fire-resistant
room with its own air supply and emergency supplies.
The room has a public announcement system and
a telephone to the Tunnel Control Center. The
capacity of each safehouse is 55 people. Shown
here is a tour group of students who visited
the facility during construction.
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Whittier
Staging Area
(left)
After exiting the tunnel, you
will bear to the left as the roadway passes the
Whittier staging area. The Whittier staging area
is similar to the Bear Valley staging area with
the exception that there are no manned information
booths. During the first weeks of operation, tunnel
employees will be at the Whittier staging area
to answer questions. Later, during normal
operations, automated systems of signs and lights
will direct traffic. The capacity of the Whittier
staging area is 280 vehicles.
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