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 Southern portal
 
 More detail photos
 
 OFFICIAL NAME:
 Stowe Tunnel
 
 OTHER DESIGNATION:
 
 
 LOCATION:
 Stowe Twp
 
 USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
 Pittsburgh West - Zone 17; 0578 4480
 CARRIES:
 Tunnel Way, Seventh Av (2 lanes)
 sidewalk on west side
 
 
 
 BETWEEN:
 -- Island Av [PA51]
 -- Ridge Av
 
 UNDER:
 -- McCoy Rd
 -- Benwood Av
 TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
 reinforced concrete lining, semicircular profile
 bored through rock
 
 TOTAL LENGTH:
 495 ft est
 
 OTHER DIMENSIONS:
 13 ft 8 in posted vertical clearance, north portal
 11 ft 11 in posted vertical clearance, south portal
 28 ft wide (est)
 
 YEAR OPENED / ENGINEER:
 1909, rebuilt 1940 (1941), County of Allegheny
 
 PennDOT, current owner
 ADDITIONAL INFO:
 The retaining walls leading up to the portals appear to be from the 1909 construction.
 
 This is probably the most well lit tunnel in the county. It appears when PennDOT assumed ownership of the tunnel the rehabilitation included new lighting, bright white paint on the lower third of the walls, and Jersey barriers along each wall. The western barrier protects the sidewalk and moves southbound traffic toward the center of the tunnel. This also accounts for the 13 ft 8 in clearance posted for southbound traffic but 11 ft 11 in clearance in the opposite direction.
 
 There are no mechanical means of ventilation and no vent stacks.
 
 
 
 Mounted to the right of each portal, a plaque reads:
 
 
 | County of Allegheny Stowe Tunnel
 Rebuilt 1940
 
 Commissioners
 Jno. J. Kane
 Geo. Rankin, Jr.     John S. Herron
 
 Controller
 Robert G. Woodside
 
 County Department of Works
 John F. Laboon
 Director
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 Edwin H. Stowe, associate Judge of Common Pleas 1862-1877, president judge 1877-1903. Stowe Twp erected from part of Robinson Twp. in December 1869 after a similar motion had been defeated two years earlier.
 
 FIELD CHECKED:
 31-Aug-2001
 
 INFO SOURCES:
 Cushing, "History of Allegheny County", 1889
 
 
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 Introduction -- 
Nearby Structures
 
 
 Page created:
 Last modified:  
31-Aug-2001
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