Apart from the nature, this is one of the most interesting things to see at Buntzen Lake. Can you imagine, boring a 3.6 km tunnel through a mountain! The tunnel starts at Coquitlam Lake, goes to under Eagle Mountain to a maximum depth of 1.2 km and terminates into the north end of Buntzen Lake. Construction started in January 1903 and was completed in April 1905. The error in alignment was only 7/8 inch and 1.75 inches in grade. The tunnel project also involved raising the level of the dam on Coquitlam Lake.
UPDATE: 8 JULY 2015:
As the region’s reservoir’s are depleting fast, Metro Vancouver has asked BC Hydro to set aside 68.2 billion litres of water and has budgeted $862,000. This means no or very low flow through the tunnel into Buntzen Lake in the summer of 2015.
The photo below shows a heavy flow through the tunnel…
The contractor, Rannie & Campbell, employed over 175 men and sometimes up to 300 ! They worked 8-hour shifts, days nights and holidays. Interesting note: the tunnel was subsequently doubled in size. The photo below shows the tunnel at the base of Eagle Mountain to show perspective…
Many workers were killed during the construction of the tunnel and BC Hydro has set up a memorial by the tunnel…
The maximum flow rate through the tunnel is 40 m3/s. Sometimes the flow is very slow in the tunnel, such as in the photo below…
The current can be strong and unpredictable – this is why there are many warning signs as seen below…
Water from Buntzen Lake (via the tunnel) flows through penstocks down the steep mountain slope to two power plants located on Indian Arm. During construction of the tunnel, there was a tunnel camp set up on the site of the present north beach. The tunnel camp had dwellings and a blacksmith shop. See the tunnel camp below…
See a short video below of a torrent of water flowing out of the tunnel…
Here’s a photo taken from the trail just above the tunnel…
Here’s a view inside the tunnel from an explorer.
WARNING: Do not try this. It is illegal and very dangerous as a torrent of water can be released at any time!
Good article
Please do not go near the tunnel outflow or inside the tunnel, the water can start without warning at any time.
Good point. I have added the warning by the picture now.
Great site…thanks for the info and pics!
I thought that the 2nd narrows bridge accident was the worst for loss of life in lower mainland as far as building something dangerous goes. This was far worse and possibly few people know of all of the sad deaths.
obviously like your web site however you have to test the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the truth then again I¦ll surely come again again.
I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are good quality so I guess I?¦ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Admiring the persistence you put into your blog and in depth information you offer. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed information. Fantastic read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Nice post. I learn something more difficult on completely different blogs everyday. It’ll always be stimulating to learn content material from different writers and practice a bit of something from their store. I’d prefer to make use of some with the content material on my blog whether or not you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
I simply couldn’t leave your site before suggesting that I extremely loved the standard info an individual provide to your guests? Is going to be back regularly in order to check out new posts.
Howdy would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using?
I’m looking to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult time deciding
between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew
of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest
twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for
quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like
this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look
forward to your new updates.
Here is my website http://caribbeanweddingvendors.com/author/wiltondeboo/
After exploring a number of the blog articles on your web site, I seriously appreciate your
technique of writing a blog. I book marked it to my bookmark website list
and will be checking back soon. Please check out my website
as well and tell me what you think.
Feel free to surf to my blog – Keto XR Reviews
Hi, its fastidious post on the topic of media print, we
all be aware of media is a impressive source of facts.
my webpage – https://wiki.cazsimworld.com/3_Causes_Of_Low_Sex_Drive_In_Women
hi!,I love your writing so a lot! share we keep up a correspondence extra approximately
your post on AOL? I require a specialist in this house to unravel my problem.
Maybe that is you! Taking a look forward to see you.
Here is my site … Alpha Boostr Review
Aw, this was an extremely good post. Taking the time and actual
effort to create a good article? but what can I say? I hesitate a lot
and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.
Here is my blog post … FlowGenix Male Enhancement
What’s up, I check your new stuff on a regular basis.
Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
Have you ever thought about writing an ebook or guest authoring on other sites?
I have a blog based upon on the same information you
discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information.
I know my audience would appreciate your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e-mail.
Look at my webpage; Bio Growth Male Enhancement Review
We still cannot quite think I could often be one of those reading the
important ideas found on your web site. My family and I are really thankful for your generosity and for providing
me the potential to pursue the chosen career path.
Many thanks for the important information I acquired from your blog.
Feel free to surf to my blog – http://premiumhempcbd.org/
hey there and thanks to your info – I’ve definitely picked up anything new from proper here. I did on the other hand experience some technical points using this web site, since I experienced to reload the website many times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I were wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading cases instances will often impact your placement in google and could damage your high-quality ranking if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Well I’m including this RSS to my email and can glance out for much more of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update this again very soon..
You got a very great website, Gladiola I discovered it through yahoo.
Hi there, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam feedback? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.
There’s noticeably a bundle to find out about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
Loving the information on this website , you have done outstanding job on the content.
I just want to mention I’m all new to weblog and absolutely savored your web blog. Probably I’m planning to bookmark your website . You definitely come with perfect articles and reviews. Cheers for sharing with us your webpage.