The Cleves Tunnel, a Rare Extant Example of the Use of Buena Vista Stone for a Canal Structure near Cincinnati, Ohio

摘要

Buena Vista stone (siltstone from what is technically called the Buena Vista Member of the Cuyahoga Formation) was used for the stonework of the extant (north) entranceway of the historic 1840s Cleves Tunnel. Also known as the Whitewater Tunnel, the Harrison Tunnel, and the North Bend Tunnel, it is probably the westernmost canal tunnel in the United States, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. This is a rare extant example of the use of Buena Vista stone for a canal structure in the Cincinnati area. The grain size of the rock and the burrows (ichnofossils) found in it are characteristic of Buena Vista stone. Buena Vista stone was quarried, beginning in the early 1800s, north, west, and southwest of Portsmouth, Ohio, in Adams, Scioto, and Pike Counties, and continues to be quarried today northwest of McDermott, in Scioto County. Ease of shipment via river and canal led to widespread use of the Buena Vista in the southwestern quarter of Ohio, from Cincinnati to Dayton and from Portsmouth to Columbus. The use of Buena Vista stone for the Cleves Tunnel contrasts with that of limestone for other extant canal structures in the Cincinnati area.