Eisenhower Tunnel Ventilation

Ensuring your Vacation is Safe from Start to Finish

Arguably the highest profile assets the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has are their Eisenhower – Johnson Memorial Tunnels, ushering millions of people either to or from a mountain ski getaway or across the country every year. At a capacity of up to 50 thousand cars a day passing through, the reliability of vehicles and their drivers becomes a central issue – especially in the case of an accident. The two tunnels, the Eisenhower (running East to West) and the Johnson (running West to East) are required by code to be constantly equipped with a ventilation system that can evacuate smoke from the tunnels within 180 seconds. Removing the smoke through their ventilation system allows emergency vehicles to then enter the tunnels and push out the affected vehicle bringing safety to the tens of thousands still hoping to continue their journey.

The tunnels, initially built in the early 1970’s, had seen some revisions over the years, but largely still utilized many components of the initial builds. Through the control center, CDOT monitors the carbon monoxide levels in the tunnel and runs air in and out to prevent a toxic environment. The fans are also a means to suppress fire if there is a fire in the tunnel. CDOT needs to be able to control and monitor the fans from their control station to make the tunnel safer.

As part of a large team working to upgrade and update the Eisenhower tunnel, Huffman Engineering was called in to integrate with replacement MCC’s, new VFD’s, PLC’s and HMI’s in each ventilation building electrical room and control room. Within the tunnels there are 16 fans – both supply to push through the air and exhaust to suck out the air. The exhaust fans vent through the roof as seen in this picture.

Working with diverse entities in Colorado, from general contractors to electrical engineers and suppliers, this massive job (literally – our engineer Nick Hein is 6’4” so you can see how large just one fan is) took hundreds of man-hours and overcame some challenging initial issues, but what Huffman Engineering did know was their work on this project was critical to the ongoing transportation needs of the United States. With great communication Huffman experts were able to work through any plan changes by embracing a model of adaptability, utilizing both state-of-the-art engineering concepts and foundational leadership.

CDOT, as do other departments of transportation around the country, subscribes to a model of value engineering ideas, drawing on the expertise of Huffman engineers to find ways of maintaining or enhancing results while reducing life cycle costs. The model, in existence since WWII, strives to engineer with an eye toward efficiency, expediency and cost-effective solutions. Our engineers were able to apply the principles of value engineering based on CDOT’s requests and this project became a signature Colorado project as Huffman Engineering built our office in Colorado.

As engineers we love the behind-the-scenes details that most people don’t think of. The Eisenhower Tunnel ventilation system is the epitome of our projects. 50,000 cars a day can go through the tunnels and those drivers aren’t thinking about the control system that will vent the tunnel in the case of a fire or emergency. This project gave us the opportunity to play a vital, albeit out of sight, role in making sure a critical artery of the American transportation network stays open.”

Nick Hein
 Mechanical Engineer 

All great business relationships are built on mutual trust and our Huffman team was able to build relationships with everyone from the contractors and leads at CDOT, to the electrical contractor, the vendors and the operators to ensure a successful project. In the end, ensuring CDOT would be getting what they needed, wanted and could effectively use to operate safely and efficiently was the task at hand, as with all projects. Communication in a high-profile, multi-disciplined project depends on solid communication. From the big picture programming and equipment needs to the details of the customer meetings, it all required coordination between multiple parties. With the site of the tunnel hours away, the value of strong communication was on full display.

In addition to monitoring CO2 levels and any accidents or overheating vehicles that might travel through the tunnel, our engineers had the opportunity to work with a multi-faceted team in Colorado. As the project progressed a decision to go with a manual shut-down model was made. This would ensure the safety of the employees working within the tunnel in the event of an emergency. This key recognition came through vital communication with the operators in the tunnels and their institutional knowledge of the safest model to use based on the personnel in the tunnel. As often happens with projects utilizing legacy equipment, when component parts malfunctioned, our engineers were able to provide sound guidance to operators and technicians onsite to ensure the situation was mitigated, remedied and they had a solution to fix the problem. That’s what our engineers are known for. Making ideas work, with intelligence, great communication, solid safety principles and the best interests of the customer in mind the entire time.

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IThis particular project required extensive design and programming capabilities from Huffman Engineering’s experienced engineering team and process improvements to the aging infrastructure. With little original documentation to base design off and old-fashioned light boards in operation, our team went to work on new SCADA screens and processes. Huffman Engineers constructed 40 local control stations (16 damper control station, 16 fan control stations and 8 cooling fan control stations) and 4 remote IO panels that contained RTD modules to monitor fan motor windings and digital input and output modules.  VFD’s were programmed to enable the fans to run at incremental speeds lowering CO2 levels and providing more efficiency and power savings.

The equipment furnished under this specification replaced existing line-ups of motor control centers that were installed in the late 1970s.  New equipment was installed in locations nearby the existing equipment, so the existing equipment remains in service.  After the new equipment was installed, Huffman put their expertise to work adding SCADA screens with monitoring and control capabilities to existing 480V Switchgear. After normal operations were resumed using the new MCCs and switchboards, the existing MCC lineup was taken out of service. 

Colorado has experienced shutdowns before, mostly due to weather related issues including avalanche warnings and mud slides. Though those shutdowns were unrelated to the tunnels, everyone involved knew the stakes were high to ensure this vital roadway remained open to travelers crossing the country. The idea of cutting off one of the main gateways from East to West due to ventilation issues was just not acceptable. Contemplate a few fascinating facts about the tunnel.

  • Tunnels are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • Highest Vehicle tunnel in the world
  • Located roughly 60 miles from Denver
  • Not a single death has occurred in the Eisenhower tunnel
  • To power the tunnel, expenses are about $70,000 per month
  • The Eisenhower tunnel is 1.693 miles long
  • Up to 1,140 people were employed to create the tunnels
  • 190,000 cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction

40 Facts about the Eisenhower Tunnel – Peak 1 Express

As an ongoing project with multiple phases, the relationship with CDOT has just begun. Huffman Engineering looks forward to continuing as CDOTs trusted partner at the Eisenhower Tunnel throughout the next series of upgrades.