Rating:
2 votes

McCallie Tunnels

Hamilton County, Tennessee

Photos 

The twin McCallie Tunnels, West Approach Headed East

Two tunnels with two lanes in each direction, built specifically to handle tourist traffic on U.S. 11 and U.S. 64.

Photo taken by Calvin Sneed in May 2008

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BH Photo #116427

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Tunnels under Missionary Ridge on U.S. 11 & 64
Location
Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built ca. 1950, specifically to handle tourist traffic on U.S. 11 & 64
Design
Two separate, two-lane tunnels eastbound and westbound, bored using the I-beam method.
Dimensions
Total length: 932.8 ft.
Also called
Missionary Ridge Tunnels
Missionary Ridge Tunnel
Approximate latitude, longitude
+35.02856, -85.25645   (decimal degrees)
35°01'43" N, 85°15'23" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/659054/3877599 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Chattanooga
Inventory numbers
TN 33SR0020022 (Tennessee bridge number)
BH 32546 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Average daily traffic (as of 2007)
40,100

Categories 

Built during 1950s (3,264)
Chattanooga, Tennessee (43)
Hamilton County, Tennessee (69)
Have street view (22,095)
Open (36,583)
Owned by city (4,491)
 Tennessee (1,030)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,542)
Tunnel (1,150)
US 11 (40)
US 64 (60)

Update Log 

  • August 3, 2016: New photos from Ben Tate
  • March 2, 2014: New photo from Jack Schmidt
  • March 30, 2010: Updated by Eddie Douthitt: Added Google Street View
  • July 4, 2008: Updated by Calvin Sneed

Sources 

  • Calvin Sneed - us43137415 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Eddie Douthitt - eddied1962 [at] charter [dot] net
  • Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
  • Ben Tate - benji5221 [at] yahoo [dot] com
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Comments 

McCallie Tunnels
Posted January 6, 2013, by Clark Vance (cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com)

Based on the portal and the build dates it might also be Stringer's Ridge.

http://bridgehunter.com/tn/hamilton/33SR0080009/

McCallie Tunnels
Posted January 6, 2013, by Mark Kelly Hall (mark [at] markkellyhall [dot] com)

I have pics of my grandparents taken in/about the 1920's, standing with friends in front of what I believe is the original, one-tube McCallie Tunnel, viewed from the west side looking east. They lived down Dodds Avenue at the time (where the funeral home is now) with her mother, Ida Kelly. Note the street is still gravel! The right side of the concrete form looks the same, though the top looks different (could have been altered in the addition of the new tube). It looks like the Cherokee Blvd. tunnel, also, but the pic shows much more earth above the tunnel than the Cherokee Blvd. one has, so my guess is they were built around the same time and/or by the same people. I'd appreciate any research on this that anyone would care to do.

BTW, while we're on the subject of bridges, my great-grandfather Joe P. Kelly worked for the Converse Bridge Company in Chattanooga at the time of his death in 1912. They specialized in metal truss bridges.

McCallie Tunnels
Posted October 20, 2009, by Gil Roberts (gmriii [at] comcast [dot] net)

Only one of these two tunnels was built in 1950. The other one had been in existence for some time prior to 1950. Some research will, no doubt, reveal when the first tube was constructed. Sorry I have no information as to that date.