Henry E. Kinney Tunnel

Photos 

Photo taken by Mark Boettcher

Enlarge

BH Photo #514848

Map 

Street View 

Videos 

Description 

The New River Tunnel, officially known as the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel, is a highway tunnel that carries U.S. Route 1 underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The tunnel replaced the Federal Aid Highway Bridge, a drawbridge opened on August 26, 1926, and closed in 1958. Upon its completion in 1960, it was the only operating public tunnel in Florida, until the completion of the Port of Miami Tunnel in 2014, though two private tunnels exist at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista. Alfred Spear built the New River Tunnel. His business, the Thorington Construction Company of Providence, R.I., was responsible for the construction of the project.

The tunnel was built after a lengthy debate on whether to construct another bridge or a tunnel. The predecessor drawbridge operated so slowly that it sometimes took motorists 45 minutes to cross from one end of the bridge to the other, creating massive traffic jams in the heart of the city.

In 1986 it was renamed in honor of Henry E. Kinney, who had advocated its construction while he was chief of the Fort Lauderdale/Broward Edition of the Miami Herald newspaper.

Facts 

Overview

Tunnel under New River on US 1 in Fort Lauderdale

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1960

Builder

- Thorington Construction Co. of Providence, R.I.

Design

Tunnel

Dimensions

Span length: 863.9 ft.
Total length: 863.9 ft.
Deck width: 47.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.5 ft.

Also called

New River Tunnel

Approximate latitude, longitude

+26.11694, -80.13722   (decimal degrees)
26°07'01" N, 80°08'14" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

17/586261/2888920 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Fort Lauderdale South

Average daily traffic (as of 2008)

57,500

Inventory numbers

FDOT 860003 (Florida Dept. of Transportation bridge number)
BH 12344 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection report (as of January 2010)

Overall condition: Fair
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 5 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Update Log 

• January 9, 2022: New photos from Mark Boettcher
• December 29, 2021: New video from Mark Boettcher
• October 22, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Changed name as this is a tunnel

Sources 

• Luke
• Mark Boettcher

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