' Trifem phaia by MS CiMMh Taro of ffifiibt vehicles that burned bi the river of fiery gasoline. in 1903; twin opened in 37 to the point that the twin bores four lanes became a bottleneck for huge morning and evening rush-hour traffic jhms. . r1 SO,, in 1964, another two-lane bore, was drilled Just north and par-' allel to the twins at a cost of about $11 million. The total of six traffic lanes tunneling through the hills allowed traffic officials to cope with, the commuter flow by using four lanes for cars bound for the cities in the morning and four lanes in the evening for outbound. Contra Costa traffic. After the new bore was opened, the two older bores were closed for renovation, one at a time. They were painted with a light green epoxy paint, to match the green tile of the new bore. Also, continuous rows of fluorescent lights,' new water mains for fire protection, and emergency and communications systems were added. The newest tunnel, in which the crash and fire occurred, is used only for westbound traffic moving downhill at a 4 percent grade. Its ventilation requirements are low, but ventilation fans are run at low speed to maintain the motors. When the three chairman of the Alameda County ..bores were completed, the Caldecott Board of Supervisors and Joint Dis- .carried an average of 54,000 vehicles trict IS, had championed the project- a day: CalTraqs says the three bores The city-surburban traffic the tunnel now handle an average 24-hour load planners had envisioned materialised of 110,000 vehicles. For the first three decades of the 1900s, travelers between Oakland and Contra Costa usually took the grueling-trip Over the Oakland hills along FisliRanch or Canyon roads. Or, brave souls could motor up Temescal C&nyon and venture into the Old Tunnel, a narrow, dimly lit bore that had been testing travelers' courage sjnee it was opened in 1903, at a cost of $46,000. But in 1928; the two counties formed Joint Highway District No. 13, and Ih'id 'plans for twin tunnels along what is now the path of Highway 24. Thetwin bores, each about three-fifths of a mile long, entered the hill mass ' on the Bay side about 1.000 feet west of the Old Tunnel en-.. trance and about 300 feet lower, - When these bores were finished in 1937,they were the longest highway . tunnel in the state and were called the Broadway Low-level tunnel. The $4' milliod'icoet was. paid for by $2.3 million in district bonds, $700,000 from the state and $1,095,000 in federal Works Project Administration funds. In 196Q, the twin bores were renamed the Caldecott Tunnel after the late Thomas E. Caldecott, who as Inferno Continuedfrpm Pags A-2 scat of he Citation: charred remains, a few bones and a skull reclining as though the driver had stopped and dropped the seat back to nap. Ihere'were other remains in the J passenger seat, but so badfjS burned that investigators could not deter- mine if they were human or perhaps a pet of some kind.- A few; embers Z still glowed and smoldered on the floor. At that point, a harsh and hides- cribable odor became apparent No- body had to say that it must have been the odor of burnt flesh. The Journey further into the tun-1 nel was a Journey deeper into the heart of the horror. of the incident ' t and' the TV lights ' illuminated how - ash on the pavement had flowed in a S pattern revealing the progress of the . ball of flame and heat from, the west end of the tunnel where the gasoline truck exploded to the east end, snuff-. ing out lives along the way.- " It was Just like a big chimney," said CHP SgL Rubin Rogers, explain- ing how. the natural flow of wind through the tunnel had carried the , heat and flame eastward, consuming - oxygen in the tunnel on the way and - incinerating the victims. - T About 150 yards beyond the Cita- - tion and Toyota and in the right lane, the group jcould see the remains of a large truck rig that had been laden , with six-pheks of beer. As they ap preached a large number of the beer, "cans suddenly exploded,' spewing a beeiy steam into the air, startling !the group so that it paused and com- men ted nervously, before proceeding. . ' They moved cautiously . ahead, . eyeing the truck warily, not stopping to look at a. body reported found between the truck and the far wall of -the tunnel. There' was little left of the' truck but a charred framework with smoldering beer cans, the labels oxidized, on the remains of the rear trailer. About 400 feet beyond the beer truck, the crisped remains of a pickup truck sat in the right lane, a charred motorcycle in the bed and a body in the front seat, or so the group was told. No one. stopped to look. Another 200 yards' beyond . that, also in the right lane, a small Honda sat diagonally across the lane. Nearby, the blackened remains of. two unidentifiable bodies. ' The man driving the Honda had seen the wreck ahead and left the truck to go to the east end of the tunnel to warn other cars not to enter. He survived. Ilis mother headed west to use an emergency call box and died in the roaring blast of heat and flame that ensued, her body believed to be one of those on the pavement - By this point in the tunnel, the ash and tile were inches deep on the floor and it got worse from there on, until finally, even the 8-inch-thick concrete coating the walls, and ceiling of the tunnel itself -were scarred and pitted from the heat all the way. through to the steel reinforcing bars in some places. r-; ' i . 1 About 200 feet beyond the Honda, the remains of the double-tanker gasoline rig sat, reduced to the mere framework of what once, had been a mighty vehicle, just one small, curved section of the stainless steel front tank still visible, the tractor rig where the driver had sat reduced to' nothing but the grill and radiator and part of a diesel engine. West of the tanker rig. the fire damage lessened almost immediately to comparatively little, further evidence of how .the air-flow in .the tunnel had carried the heat and flame east. v . . TT