Thursday, August 12, 2010

Othello Tunnels






Our last stop was the world class attraction, Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park - home to the historic Othello-Quintette Tunnels. Designed by Andrew McCullock, they were built from 1911 to 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railroad. The river had cut a 300 deep ft channel in a wall of solid granite through the Coquihalla gorge. The men had to extend hand built ladders down the cliffs where the surveying was done. Next, the 'powder monkeys' went down, hacked holes into the cliffs and scampered up very quickly before the dynamite blew. The uniquely named tunnels and bridges, Lear, Portia Juliet etc, pay homage to the engineer's love for the works of William Shakespeare. We walked through 4 tunnels and over 2 bridges - an exciting impressive place where (Rambo) First Blood and other movies have been filmed. From the first tunnel, you can see right through to the second.

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