Nada Tunnel

{{Short description|Tunnel in Kentucky, United States}}

{{Infobox tunnel

|name = Nada Tunnel

|image = Nada tunnel (4943235887) (2).jpg

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|caption =The Nada Tunnel in 2010

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|location = Powell County, Kentucky, U.S.

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|opened = {{Start date|1911}}

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|owner = Dana Lumber Company

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|length = {{convert|900|ft}}

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|height = {{convert|13|ft}}

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Nada Tunnel is a historic {{convert|900|ft|adj=on}} long tunnel along Kentucky Route 77 in Powell County, Kentucky, in the United States.{{cite web | url=http://www.lat-long.com/Latitude-Longitude-514177-Kentucky-Nada_Tunnel.html | title=Nada Tunnel, Kentucky - Map and Latitude Longitude GPS Coordinates | publisher=lat-long.com/ | access-date=2013-05-03}}{{cite web | url=http://bridgehunter.com/ky/powell/bh43804/ | title=Nada Tunnel | publisher=bridgehunter.com | access-date=2013-05-03}} Formerly a railway tunnel, the tunnel has often been described as the "Gateway to Red River Gorge" for the shortcut it provides motorists to the Red River Gorge canyons of the Daniel Boone National Forest.{{cite web | url=http://www.kentuckyexplorer.com/nonmembers/08-03story.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124193321/http://kentuckyexplorer.com/nonmembers/08-03story.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=November 24, 2010 | title=Nada Tunnel: The "Gateway To The Red River Gorge" | work=Kentucky Explorer magazine | date=2008 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=Graybeal, Billie Sue}}{{cite web | url=http://www.claycity-times.com/news/?p=4186 | title=History and heritage celebrated in Nada this weekend | work=The Clay City Times | date=June 11, 2012 | access-date=2013-05-03}}

Built for the Dana Lumber Company between 1910 and 1911,{{cite book|title=The Southwestern Reporter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYQ7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA628|year=1915|publisher=West Publishing Company|page=628}} Nada Tunnel (pronounced nay-duh by locals){{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rkBCXKl8ekC&dq=%22nada+tunnel%22&pg=PA41 | title=Curious Gorge: Finding Adventure and Solace In Red River Gorge and the Wilds of Eastern Kentucky | work=Cincinnati Magazine | date=September 2008 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=Wohlfarth, Jenny | pages=41}} was named after Nada, Kentucky, then a logging town about {{convert|10|mi}} past the tunnel's entrance.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=52GGiIdqqZ8C&dq=%22nada+tunnel%22&pg=PA45 | title=Scenic Driving Kentucky | publisher=Globe Pequot | date=April 1, 2000 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=Kappele, William and Cora | pages=45| isbn=9781560447337 }} Solid sandstone was blasted with dynamite and dug out with steam machinery and hand tools, with two teams working from each side of the ridge.{{cite web | url=http://byways.org/explore/byways/2482/places/32616 | title=Nada Tunnel (KY) | publisher=byways.org | access-date=2013-05-03}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9g4huBIaMlIC&dq=%22nada+tunnel%22+1911&pg=PA122 | title=National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways | publisher=National Geographic Books | date=March 5, 2013 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=National Geographic Society (U.S.) | pages=122| isbn=9781426210143 }}

The tunnel's original dimensions were {{convert|12|x|12|ft|m}}, but when the first train load of logs became stuck and had to be blasted free, the tunnel's height was increased to {{convert|13|ft}}.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tHoj-MsbZMC&dq=nada+tunnel&pg=PA137 | title=U. S. National Forest Campground Guide: Southern Region | publisher=Moon Canyon Publishing | date=January 1, 2005 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=Dow, Fred | pages=137| isbn=9780976751618 }} Narrow gauge steam locomotives of the Big Woods, Red River & Lombard Railroad regularly hauled timber extracted from the vast forests of the Red River Valley through the tunnel, to a sawmill {{convert|15|mi}} away in Clay City.{{cite web | url=http://www.abandonedonline.net/railroads/big-woods-red-river-and-lombard-railroad/ | title=Big Woods, Red River & Lombard Railroad | publisher=abandonedonline.net | access-date=2013-05-03}}{{cite web | url=http://bridgestunnels.com/tunnels/nada-tunnel-ky-77/ | title=Nada Tunnel (KY 77) | publisher=bridgestunnels.com | access-date=2013-05-03 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614085907/http://bridgestunnels.com/tunnels/nada-tunnel-ky-77/ | archive-date=2013-06-14 }}

Once the forests had been cleared, the timber companies pulled out of the area. The railroad tracks were removed and a dirt road was laid in the unlit tunnel in order to accommodate horse and pedestrian traffic.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i090MbNYlIYC&dq=%22nada+tunnel%22&pg=PA285 | title=Listen Here: Women Writing In Appalachia | publisher=University Press of Kentucky | date=2003 | access-date=2013-05-03 | author=Ballard, Sandra L.| pages=285| isbn=0813126320 |display-authors=etal}} Nada Tunnel has since been paved to carry a single lane of road traffic.

Nada Tunnel lends its name to two prehistoric Native American rock art sites, namely "Nada Tunnel 1 Petroglyphs" and "Nada Tunnel 2", which were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/KY/Powell/state.html | title=National Register of Historical Places - Kentucky (KY), Powell County | publisher=nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com | access-date=2013-05-03}}