Why, you may be asking yourself, is there just half a building in front of me? The Alliance Mine’s owners tore down the missing half when they buried the Alliance drain tunnel for safety reasons. The Alliance Tunnel was 4,600 feet long and built in a mere 14 months! Pretty darn fast for 1889!
John Daly and others formed the Alliance Mining Company to combine their Sampson Mine holdings and recover from financial trouble that had placed the mine in receivership, a court-appointed management to settle debts. The Sampson Mine had substantial ore deposits but also had major problems with flooding. Their solution was to hire John Judge and David Keith to drive a drain tunnel up to the mine under Walker-Webster Gulch.
Mark Danninger is a modern mining engineer with a passion for historical technologies.
Drain tunnels were the most efficient way to remove large volumes of water from the mines.
Drain tunnel construction was very expensive and complex, and could only be justified by having high-grade ore in the area to be drained. Often, several mining companies partnered to cover costs, as the drained area benefited all involved. In many cases, the drain tunnels also eased the movement of ore and mining supplies directly to the processing mill. A mill also required a lot of water to process the ore, so they often built mills at the mouth of drain tunnels.
In fact, Park City Municipal Corporation initially contracted the water from the Alliance Tunnel to supply water for its citizens. In addition to draining their property, the Alliance Tunnel also drained portions of the Silver King Coalition Mining Company’s claims. The disagreement over drain tunnel fees soon became a lawsuit, and—as many mining disputes did—it ended with the Silver King absorbing the Alliance Mining Company.
You also may have noticed the concrete building just behind you. That too was part of the Silver King Coalition Mine built in the 1920s to pump water from the Alliance Tunnel up to the Silver King Coalition Mill in Woodside Gulch north of here.
Water from Park City’s drain tunnels is still used today for drinking water. These days, however, there is an $82 million water treatment plant that filters out heavy metals and other contaminants before the water is used. Thinking about our real estate, folks around here say, “Water is the new silver.”
The water used to irrigate golf courses and make snow at both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort also comes from the drain tunnels! If you are continuing the hike downhill towards story site 16, walk down past the concrete pump house and take a right down the road near the power substation to the next tour stop.More Information:
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