The Tunnel at the Niagara Parks Power Station - 4K - Niagara Falls - Winter - Tailrace

The Tunnel at the Niagara Parks Power Station
Descend 180 feet beneath the historic Niagara Parks Power Station to discover the 2,200-foot-long tunnel that lies under Niagara’s cathedral of power. It was remarkably excavated in 1901 with only lanterns, rudimentary dynamite, pickaxes and shovels.

Viewing platform:

The tunnel served as an exit point for the water used in generating hydropower for over a century. Your journey in the tunnel will take you along the same path travelled by water and lead you to a viewing platform where the tunnel emptied into the Niagara River.

For the first time ever, the newly constructed viewing platform offers unprecedented access to a new perspective of the lower Niagara River with unparalleled views of both the Horseshoe and American Falls.


Tailrace Tunnel:

The tailrace tunnel is a curving passageway that winds through the depths of the power station’s wheelpit nearly 200 feet below the ground floor. The water used in power station was expelled safely back to the Niagara River through the tailrace tunnel.

Construction of the 2,200-foot tunnel began by creating a vertical shaft halfway between where the tunnel connected with the powerhouse and the Niagara River. The area was blasted with dynamite and crews dug towards the plant and the river simultaneously. Building materials were lowered by derrick crane and the excavated rock was loaded into skips and lifted to the top of the gorge.

Wood cribbing was used to hold the excavated sections of the tunnel to prevent loose rocks from falling on workers below. The excavated rocks were loaded into flat-bottomed boxes and lifted to street level.


Music: Baby Mammoth - Level Freak & Sound In Your Mouth *Used with permission from Mark Blissenden*