Kessler Canyon Tunnel Rehabilitation

This project consisted of the rehabilitation of the Kessler Canyon Tunnel at the Kennecott Utah Copper (KUC) smelter site. The existing tunnel was a 17’x17’ cast-in-place box culvert, approximately 1,500 feet long, which was built in the early 1920s. Rehabilitation involved lining the tunnel with concrete using a mining advancing tunnel form system, then placing 8,000 CY of concrete in a confined space.

KUC’s existing box culvert runs directly beneath several of their smelter buildings. This tunnel was built in the 1920s to handle the runoff from the Oquirrh Mountains that drains into Kessler Canyon just south of the smelter. Over time, the concrete inside of the tunnel started to deteriorate, and in some areas, the surface concrete was delaminating from the twisted bar reinforcement.

KUC requested proposals to install a Multi-Plate culvert through the tunnel and fill the remaining annular space with controlled low-strength material (CLSM). W.W. Clyde & Co. submitted an innovative alternate proposal to construct a 10.5’ diameter cast-in-place concrete tunnel utilizing our mining advancing tunnel form system.

Owner: Kennecott Utah Copper, John McEwan
Engineer: CH2M Hill, Danny Pollock
Year Completed: 2011
Contract Amount: $2.8M

Market

Heavy Civil (Roads, Dams and Bridges)

Owner

Kennecott Utah Copper

Type of Project

Earth Retention, Mass Excavation

Scoped Performance

KUC requested proposals to install a Multi-Plate culvert through the tunnel and fill the remaining annular space with controlled low-strength material (CLSM).

Completion Date

2011

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