The Bankhead Tunnel, formally the John H. Bankhead Tunnel, is a road

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in Mobile, Alabama that carries Government Street under the

Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georgia ...

from Blakeley Island to the downtown Mobile business district. "Mobile City Guide" (map, landmarks), AARoads, February 2011, webpage:
SER-Bankhead
"Frequently Asked Questions - Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce" (notes), Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, 2006, webpage:
MCCOM-FAQ
. It is named for

John H. Bankhead John Hollis Bankhead (September 13, 1842March 1, 1920) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from the state of Alabama between 1907 and 1920. Life and career Bankhead was born on September 13, 1842, at Moscow, present-day Lamar County, Alabama (near ...

, an Alabama politician and U.S. Senator (served 1907-1920) who was also the grandfather of actress

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...

. It, like the larger George Wallace Tunnel (built 1969-1973) a few blocks downriver from it, was constructed in Mobile at the shipyards of the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO), from 1938-1940. The eastern end of the Bankhead Tunnel features a large "flood door" that can be closed to prevent water from

Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. Th ...

flooding the tunnel during surges from hurricanes or tropical storms. It was added to the

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These propertie ...

on January 25, 1977.

History

The tunnel was built in sections and floated to the proper positions, then sunk. Each section was sunk next to the previous section and joined underwater. When all sections were connected, and concrete set into place, they were pumped dry and finished out. The depth of clearance is 40 ft (12.2 m) for the ship channel over the tunnel. The entrances were designed in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

style that was popular during the time of construction.Thomason, Michael. ''Mobile : the new history of Alabama's first city'',pages 187–189. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2001. It was completed in 1940 at a cost of $4 million and opened to the public on February 20, 1941. A toll fee was charged at the east side, from 1941 to the mid-1970s, when the toll plaza was dismantled. The tube carries two lanes of travel, and no pedestrian or non-motorized vehicular traffic is permitted. The tunnel was designed by Oliver Fowlkes and construction directed by Wayne Palmer of Mobile. Only passenger cars and pickup trucks are still allowed to travel through the tunnel, as it is very narrow. Large trucks can use the George Wallace Tunnel on

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally ...

a few blocks to the south. However, trucks with hazardous cargo must use the Cochrane–Africatown USA Bridge (U.S. 90/U.S. 98 Truck) a few miles to the north.

Filming location

The tunnel was the location of a scene in the 1977 blockbuster ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' by director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

, a film which was primarily filmed in the Mobile area. In this particular scene Roy Neary, played by

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including '' American Graffiti'' (1973), '' Jaws'' (1975), '' Close Encounters of th ...

, drives through the tunnel as he chases UFOs. The tunnel was later featured during a motorcycle chase scene in the 1991 film '' Stone Cold'', starring Brian Bosworth.

References

External links

* Historic postcard image
Bankhead Tunnel toll plaza and eastern entrance
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Bankhead Tunnel , bridge signs = , upstream = Cochrane–Africatown USA Bridge , upstream signs =
, downstream = George Wallace Tunnel , downstream signs = Road tunnels in Alabama Transportation in Mobile, Alabama Buildings and structures in Mobile, Alabama Transportation buildings and structures in Mobile County, Alabama Crossings of the Mobile River Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage Tunnels completed in 1941 Art Deco architecture in Alabama U.S. Route 98 Former toll tunnels in the United States Former toll roads in Alabama Road tunnels in the United States Public Works Administration in Alabama 1941 establishments in Alabama