To qualify for the tunnelbuilder Chamber of Horrors, a project must have set out for the Hall of Fame and lost its way. The list we have is by no means complete, because failures in tunnels are generally both out of sight and out of mind. Contributions by readers are welcome, both for listed and unlisted projects, particularly if recounted from personal experience. Please send your inputs to sam@tunnelbuilder.com. 

Rogers Pass - forgettable fourth of July!
The 14.4 km-long Rogers Pass railway tunnel on the Canadian Pacific Railroad commenced driving from both ends in May, 1983. The crown heading of the 8 km east section was driven by Selkirk Contractors upgrade at 1%, using a refurbished 6.8 m-diameter Robbins TBM model 222-183. The drive commenced in January, 1985 in extremely-hard marble and quartzite. On 4th July, a piece of the main bearing race failed, and was pulled into the rotating rollers, causing a full stop which also damaged the pinions, gears and bearings of the drive motors. After an eight-week delay for major repairs, the TBM resumed operations, turning with reduced loading while reseating the new bearing. After another 1.9 km in quartzite, a much softer phyllite was encountered, where the best day was 65 m, and best 5-day week was 260 m. The TBM eventually completed on schedule in June, 1986, returning 24.3 m/day overall, and 2.73 m/h. Submitted by reader Jim Eckford. 12/04.