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Tunnel at Hayes Arboretum

This tunnel under Hayes Arboretum Road on the east side of Richmond, was installed in the summer of 2007 to open up a safe passage for Hayes Arboretum visitors to explore the eastern half of the property.  This section of the property has not been open to the public for many years.  This tunnel doubles the size of the property available to visitors of Hayes Arboretum.

Photo taken July 31, 2007

Click to view photo on Flickr.

Tunnel will open passage to unused land for public

Palladium-Item (Richmond, IN)
May 30, 2007

By BILL ENGLE, STAFF WRITER

Works begins today on the tunnel under Hayes Arboretum Road that, before the end of the year, will double the size of Hayes Arboretum.

Hayes Arboretum Road between Woodside Drive and Elks Country Club Road will close today for three weeks as Mike Delucio & Sons Excavating begins preparations to put a tunnel under the road.

When completed this fall, the tunnel will link the main 177-acre arboretum with the 175-acre tract east of the road.

"It's exciting," said arboretum director Rod Waltz. "There are some wonderful features over there that we will be able to showcase in time."

The arboretum has owned part of the east property since 1915 and added sections in 1977 and 2001. It has never been open to the public.

"It has only been used for special classes," Waltz said. "We have been assembling property on that site for a number of years."

The plan is to put a pre-cast cement 12 feet by 12 feet box culvert in a hole that will be 16 feet deep and 120 feet long.

"It's a pretty good-sized project," said Butch Delucio, one of the partners who owns the Delucio company. "We're bringing a couple of dozers in and then bringing in a pretty good-sized crane. Right now, we're just starting the prep work."

Delucio said his company has installed several box culverts, many for the city of Richmond. One was put in to solve the stormwater sewer system problem on South Fifth Street near South G.

Waltz said arboretum officials hope to have the tunnel in place by June and hope to open it to the public by fall. But that's when the real work starts.

"We will be years adding amenities and developing trails," he said. "It's a pretty hazardous road to try to cross. This will allow people to go right under the road."

AT A GLANCE
  • The tunnel that will go under Hayes Arboretum Road will consist of 10 sections of pre-cast concrete, each weighing 40,000 pounds.
     
  • The sections will be brought in one at a time and will be laid in a trench that is 16 feet deep and 120 feet long.
     
  • Initial work will be done in June and the tunnel should be open to the public this fall.


Section: Local, Page: 3A
Article Copyright (c) Palladium-Item. All rights reserved.

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