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Historic American Engineering Record
Cork Run Tunnel
HAER No. PA-382



CORK RUN TUNNEL HAER No. PA-382
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad
from the Chartiers Avenue Bridge, heading
2371 feet west
Pittsburgh
Allegheny County
Pennsylvania





CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No PA-382 (Page 10)

Between the Cork Run Tunnel and the Sheraden Yards, the Chartiers Avenue Bridge over the Panhandle provided access across the tracks to Sheraden and the large railroad station on the north side of the bridge. In 1908, the Panhandle proposed a new bridge to carry Chartiers Avenue and the Pittsburgh Railways trolley tracks over new east and west bound passenger and freight tracks at the approach to the Cork Run Tunnel. [35] The existing Chartiers Creek Bridge was constructed in 1939.

The final major construction project in the tunnel occurred in 1963 when the Pennsylvania Company re-grouted the tunnel to seal voids in the liner and to prevent filtration of groundwater into the tunnel. In addition, patches of shotcrete were applied to the liner. [36]

In 1920, the American Railroad Association complained to the superintendent of the Panhandle Division that conditions at the Corliss yards were "very bad" with too much traffic being funneled through the yards. [37] Finally, on April 24, 1936 the Sheraden Yards were retired when the trackage was no longer needed. [38]

Ten tunnels -- four in Pennsylvania and six in Ohio -- were constructed on the original Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad. When the Pennsylvania Railroad took over the line, Cork Run Tunnel was known as Tunnel 2 on the Panhandle Division. The four Pennsylvania tunnels were located in the City of Pittsburgh under Grant's Hill, at Cork Run, and in the towns of Bulger and Dinsmore in Washington County. Maintaining these tunnels became a financial burden to the railroad and repairs created delays and bottlenecks just at a time when the railroads needed to demonstrate efficiency. In 1906, the company removed the overburden above the Bulger Tunnel near Burgettstown so to make it an open cut, or in tunneling terminology, "daylighted." Finally, nine of the ten Panhandle tunnels were "daylighted" or abandoned, with the Cork Run Tunnel being the only one remaining in 1947. [39]


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TUNNEL

The Cork Run Tunnel measures 2,371 feet in length and has a diameter of approximately twenty-five feet with spacing between the tracks of eleven feet two inches. There is a four-degree curve in the east end of the tunnel. [40] Today, a residential housing plan covers the area above the original tunnel. The tunnel liner of red brick and mortar measures approximately two feet in thickness. Test borings for the tunnel were conducted between July 9 and August 6, 1993. Six courses of brick were identified in the tunnel arch.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 11)

The brick was laid over a grout of 0.2 to 0.5 feet in thickness. [41] A grout layer from 0.1 feet to 2.0 feet was present between the brick and the sandstone bedrock. Arched manhole niches built to protect workers during repair and construction periods are recessed into the north side of the tunnel's interior.

The Pittsburgh Portal was constructed when the cut-and-cover extension of the tunnel was completed c. 1900. This cut-and-cover extension involved covering 320 feet of the original approach with fill. The fill does not reach the top of the original cut and today is covered with vegetation from the original portal to the existing portal. The Pittsburgh portal was constructed of rock-faced sandstone with an occasional axed sandstone block bearing chisel drafts on the edges suggesting stones from the earlier portal were included in the new construction. Square voussoirs form a basket arch with a raised keystone and~a stone coping covers the top of the portal. The use of ashlar, voussoirs and coping represent a common practice on the railroad in cities or "places where appearance is of importance". [42]

The Pittsburgh portal is partially infilled with concrete and locked metal gates provide pedestrian access only. The rock cut at the portal is sixty feet in depth at the portal and continues to the Chartiers Creek Bridge where the rock cut is approximately twenty feet in depth. In the cut walls of the approach, concrete reinforces the approach and prevents erosion from the differential weathering of the high walls. The concrete has been applied since c. 1900 [43] and has been repaired and extended since that time. On the south side of the portal, there is a concrete gutter containing a metal pipe housing the communication lines between the tunnel and the former Sheraden tower. [44] An arched reinforced concrete guard station is located on the north side of the Pittsburgh approach near the portal.

On the Ingram approach, the tunnel plunges into the steep hillside. This portal is covered with concrete and capped with a coping of five courses of brick. The portal was damaged and repaired with concrete in November of 1918 when a derrick caused a cave-in resulting in the death of one laborer and the destruction of the tunnel's portal stones. [45] The approach to the Ingram Portal was cut into the Birmingham sandstone and shale from twenty feet in depth at the East Prospect Bridge to sixty feet in depth at the portal. The vertical rock cuts on both approaches experience continual differential weathering creating the potential for rockfalls. It was this condition that most likely resulted in the construction of the cut-and-cover section of the tunnel c. 1900. The steep sidewalls are so deeply undercut that rockfalls resulted, creating a continual safety hazard. Instead of repairing the walls, the tunnel was elongated by approximately 320 feet on the Pittsburgh approach.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No.PA-382 (Page 12)

SIGNIFICANCE
The Cork Run tunnel is one of nine tunnels constructed on the original Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad line and the only one to remain extant. When the tunnel was built in 1850, there were only twenty-nine other tunnels in the nation. Remaining from the original 1850s construction is the original Ingram approach and a segment of the Pittsburgh approach. The Pittsburgh portal dates to the period when the cut-and-cover segment of the tunnel was constructed (c. 1900). The Ingram Portal was damaged during an accident in 1918 and is now covered with concrete parget. The interior brick arch remains in its original 1873 configuration, although extensive repairs have been made to the structure after its construction as a double-track tunnel.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 13)

REPOSITORIES

Records housed in the following repositories were used in the preparation of this report: the Library of Congress, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Hillman Library and Darlington Library (both of the University of Pittsburgh), the library of The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Pattee Library of The Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania State Archives. In the course of research at Labor Archives in the Pattee Library of The Pennsylvania State University, a total of thirty-two boxes of records from the CONRAIL collection were examined. Although references to drawings of the Cork Run Tunnel were found in the documents, no blueprints or photographs could be located in the collection. Because the Cork Run Tunnel was the only tunnel still in operation by the 1940s, the drawings were most likely part of a collection housed in Pittsburgh office. CONRAIL's engineering department in Pittsburgh was contacted, however no drawings are known to be extant. When the Conrail office was relocated, many of the Pittsburgh District's records were destroyed.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 14)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allegheny County Plan Book 3: 193; 8:240; 21:359. Pittsburgh.

Becker, Max J. "Reconstruction and Enlargement of Cork Run Tunnel on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway." American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions Vol. 6 (1878):1-8.

City of Pittsburgh Ordinance Book 25: 350. Pittsburgh.

Coverdale and Colpitts, Consulting Engineers. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Vol. I, II, III, IV. 1947.

Davis, Christine. Panhandle Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. 1995

Driggs, George. Corporate History of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway. Pittsburgh: Stevenson and Foster. 1876.

Fitzsimons, Gray editor. Blair County and Cambria County. Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. 1990.

Keystone Bridge Company. Descriptive Catalogue of Wrought-Iron Bridges. Keystone Bridge Company, Pittsburgh, 1874.

Michael Baker Jr. Inc. Final Berry Street Tunnel Geotechnical Investigation Report. Submitted to the Port Authority of Allegheny County. 1993.

Newton, J.H., G.G. Nichols, and A.G. Sprankle. History of the Pan-Handle: Being Historical Collection of the Counties of Ohio, Brooke, Marshall and Hancock, West Virginia. Wheeling: J.A. Caldwell. 1879.

Pennsylvania Railroad Collection, The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library.

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway. Annual Reports to the Stockholders. Steubenville: 1866-1881.

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company. First Annual Report for the Year ended December 31. 1917. Office of the Secretary, Pittsburgh, PA. 1917




CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No.PA-382 (Page 15)

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Third Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Year ending December 31, 1892.

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Year ending December 31, 1897.

Poor, Henry Varnum. History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States Of America. New Reprinted in New York: Augustus M. Kelley. 1970. p. 499-500.

Sandstrom, Gosta E. Tunnels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1963.

Vose, George L. Handbook of Railroad Construction for the Use of American Engineers. Boston: James Munroe and Company. 1857.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No.PA-382 (Page 16)

END NOTES

1.] "P.C.C.&StL.R. Pittsburgh Division, Proposed Vacation of Streets in Connection with the proposed Corliss St. Tunnel. Scale 100 to 1", May 21, 1912.

2.] Michael Baker Jr. Inc. Final Berry Street Tunnel Geotechnical Investigation Report. Submitted to the Port Authority of Allegheny County, 1993.

3.] Sandstrom, Gosta E. Tunnels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1963. p. 82-97.

4.] Fitzsimons, Gray editor. Blair County and Cambria County. Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service.1990.

5.] Sandstrom, p. 95

6.] Coverdale and Colpitts, Consulting Engineers. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Vol. I, II, III, IV. 1947. p 424.

7.] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Company. Vol. XXIX (1941) p. 182). Roberts and Edward F. Gay were appointed by Pennsylvania's Board of Canal Commissioners to re-survey the route and oversee the construction of a brick and stone-lined tunnel 1,800 feet in length.

8.] Vose, George L. Handbook of Railroad Construction for the Use of American Engineers. James Munroe and Company, Boston.

9.] Becker, Max J. "Reconstruction and Enlargement of Cork Run Tunnel on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway." American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions Vol. 6 (1878):1-8.

10.] Poor, Henry Varnum. History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States of America. New Reprinted in New York: Augustus M. Kelley. 1970. p. 499-500.

11.] Becker, 1878, p. 1-8

12.] Vose, George L. Handbook of Railroad Construction for the Use of American Engineers. James Munroe and Company, Boston. 1857. p. 120-21



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 17)

13.] First Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the P.C and St.L. Railway Company, March 1, 1869. p. 10.

14.] Allegheny County Plan Book 3:193

15.] Newton et.al. 1879:v

16.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter from Engineer M. J. Becker to J. L. Jewett, March 16, 1868. Box 56 Folio 7

17.] Becker, M. 1878 p. 5-8.

18.] 5th Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway Company. March 18, 1873. Pittsburgh.

19.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Unpublished report "Sheridan: Proposed widening and relining No. 2 Tunnel. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.
20.] Third Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Year ending December 31, 1892.

21.] Coverdale and Colpitts, 1947 p. 307

22.] Coverdale and Colpitts. 1947

23.] Allegheny County Plan Book 8:240

24.] Allegheny County Plan Book 21:359

25.] City of Pittsburgh Ordinance Book 25:350

26.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. "Sheridan Yard near Pittsburgh, PA. Feb. 21, 1905, Revised Aug. 24, 1908." The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 21: Folio 7.

27.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. "Proposed Vacation of Streets in Connection with proposed Corliss Tunnel, May 21, 1912." The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 21, Folio 7.

28.] Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company. Year ending December 31, 1897.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 18)

29.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter to Ralph Peters, General Superintendent from R.E. McCarty, Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. November 24, 1902. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

30.] "Sheridan, Pa; proposition to widen and reline Tunnel No. 2 or drive a duplicate tunnel beside the present one." The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

31.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter from R.E. McCarty to G.L. Peck, November 2, 1918. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

32.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter to G.L. Peck from Chief Engineer dated June 6, 1906. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

33.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Unpublished report "Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh". The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 239: Folio 2709.

34.] Michael Baker Jr. Inc. 1993. p. 1-4.

35.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Pittsburgh Division. Sheridan, Pennsylvania Proposed Overhead Bridge and Improved Station Facilities. Jan. 22, 1908. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 21, Folio 7.

36.] Michael Baker Jr. Inc. 1993 p. 1-3, 1-4.

37.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Unpublished and untitled letter report. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 237: 1059.

38.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Unpublished and untitled letter report. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 239: Folio 2709.

39.] Coverdale and Colpitts. 1947. p. 394 and 426.

40.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection Letter to P.A. Bonebrake, Superintendent from Engineer, December 19, 1905. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.



CORK RUN TUNNEL
(Berry Street Tunnel)
(Tunnel No. 2)
HAER No. PA-382 (Page 19)

41.] Michael Baker Jr. Inc. 1993. p. 3-2.

42.] Vose, George L. Handbook of Railroad Construction for the Use of American Engineers. James Munroe and Company, Boston. 1857. p. 119

43.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter from R.E. McCarty to Ralph Peters, November 24, 1902. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

44.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter to Ralph Peters from R.E. McCarty. November 24, 1902. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.

45.] Pennsylvania Railroad Collection. Letter from R.E. McCarty to G.L. Peck. The Pennsylvania State University, Fred Lewis Pattee Library. Box 260: Folio 919.



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Last modified: 19-Feb-2003

HAER Text: Christine Davis Consultants, Inc.
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