East River Mountain Tunnel - Bluefield, West Virginia - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

he East River Mountain Tunnel stretches an impressive 5,412 feet. It carries I-77 and U.S. 52, spanning the distance from Bluefield, West Virginia and Rocky Gap, Virginia. Just 20 miles away lies a similar, yet smaller tunnel known as the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel.

Construction on this lofty project began on August 12, 1969. Completion of the tunnel took 5 years of hard labor. By the time the project was finished in 1974, the tunnel was the most expensive construction project taken on by the West Virginia Division of Highways. Because of its location in both states, Virginia helped fund its portion of the project.

Life before the tunnel was no walk in the park. Those who needed to cross the VA/WV state line would have to take US Route 52 up the mountain. This could be a particularly dangerous drive in the sleet and snow, seeing as the road had no rails.Life before the tunnel was no walk in the park. Those who needed to cross the VA/WV state line would have to take US Route 52 up the mountain. This could be a particularly dangerous drive in the sleet and snow, seeing as the road had no rails.

This tunnel is actually only one of two in the entire country that crosses the border between two states. The only other state-crossing tunnel is the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, located on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee.

For spectacular views of this unique tunnel in Virginia, you can access Big Walker Lookout, a 100-foot observation tower built near Big Walker mountain.

On July 25th, 2014 there was a terrible fire in the tunnel caused by a truck carrying nearly 40,000 pounds of cast stone. The 30-40 vehicles behind the truck were backed out of the tunnel safely and fortunately, no one involved was seriously injured. Crews worked tirelessly to contain the problem and repair damage.-Unique Tunnel

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/08/2023 173Carver visited it