The Summit Tunnel, completed in 1867 as part of the first transcontinental railroad, has been officially recognized as an ASCE National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. This remarkable feat of 19th-century engineering played a crucial role in connecting the country and advancing infrastructure development.
On Saturday, June 21, 2025, a dedication ceremony was held at the Colfax Heritage Museum adjacent to the historic (and still functioning!) Colfax railroad station. The ceremony had a brief but enjoyable interruption from an Amtrak train coming into the station and making a stop to drop off and pick up more passengers.
Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora, ASCE National President, delivered opening remarks that put this event in the context of the larger civil engineering community that has created benefits to humanity throughout the centuries.
A welcome and introduction to everyone was given by Amit Joshi, President of the ASCE Sacramento Section. He introduced the audience to the other speakers who had an important role in this historic site designation or a connection to the history of the site.
Gaining recognition as an ASCE national historic civil engineering landmark requires a very high and unique standard. As Chuck Spinks explained, the civil engineering site must contain a unique and historic advancement in the field of civil engineering. Chuck is a member of the ASCE History & Heritage Committee. His efforts in research, documentation, and advocacy over many years were essential in achieving the Summit Tunnel historic site designation.
In the case of the Summit Tunnel, this was the first use of nitroglycerin high explosives for a civil engineering project. This chemical was used to blast into the solid granite to make the tunnels for the train rails as well as the vertical ventilation shafts. Nitroglycerin was used because dynamite had not yet been established for this purpose.
The Summit Tunnel was also highest rail tunnel in the world when it was built, at an elevation of over 7,000 feet. Chuck gave many descriptive accounts of the challenges that had to be overcome for the tunnels to be constructed. The high elevation, remote location, and extreme weather conditions were formidable.
Chinese immigrants were the majority of the labor behind the tunnel construction. Over 12,000, perhaps as many as 20,000 Chinese immigrants worked on this section of the Transcontinental Railroad. There were also Irish immigrant laborers. Chuck recounted how anti-Chinese discrimination was a factor in the construction. But in one documented instance, the work ethic and productivity of the Chinese workers was so measurably superior to other immigrant laborers that one civil engineer opposed pressure to remove them from the project.
A personal connection to the Summit Tunnel and the Chinese laborers who built it was given by Ray Chong. He is a descendant of one of these railroad workers and is also an ASCE member. He gave a passionate speech about his ancestors and his family’s connections to the building of America.
The next speaker was Ted Gong, Executive Director of the 1882 Project Foundation. This foundation seeks to broaden public awareness of the history and continuing significance of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Ted gave appreciation for the historic site recognition and the fact that it is another significant recognition of the positive impact of Chinese immigrants in the building of our country. More information about the 1882 Foundation is at their website: https://1882foundation.org/about-the-foundation/who-we-are/
The ceremony concluded with remarks from ASCE Region 9 Director, Yaz Emrani. He expressed thanks and gratitude to the people who engineered and built the Summit Tunnel, as well as those in attendance who were instrumental in bringing the ASCE historic landmark designation to the site after many years of effort.
After the ceremony, many people enjoyed a lunch together at a restaurant within walking distance.
Text on the plaque:
ASCE NATIONAL HISTORIC CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK
SUMMIT TUNNEL
The longest and most difficult to construct of the Central Pacific Railroad’s 15 tunnels across the Sierra Nevada was the 1,659-foot long Tunnel 6, the Summit Tunnel. In February 1867, the Chinese workers started using Nitroglycerine, in addition to black powder, to blast through the hard Sierra granite. This was the first use of high explosive nitroglycerine for railroad construction in the U.S. When completed, the tunnel was the highest in the world at over 7,000 feet. Heavy snowfall at this elevation forced Chinese workers to dig snow tunnels to provide access to tunnel portals and remove waste rock. Completed in 1867. Designated in 2024.
The plaque will be installed near the entrance to the Summit Tunnel at a future date. There is interest in holding an event at this plaque location after it is installed. If you want to be notified of this event, be sure you are receiving our email announcements. If you aren’t receiving our email updates yet, please subscribe here:
To learn more about the ASCE historic landmarks around the
USA and the world, please go to the ASCE Historic Landmarks website:
https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks
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