The White House to Treasury Building tunnel is a subterranean structure in Washington, D.C. that connects a sub-basement of the East Wing of the White House to the area that surrounds the United States Treasury Building. It is 761 feet (232 meters) long.... The tunnel was built by moving earth to create an open corridor about 20 feet wide and 6 feet high.
Since its construction in 1869, the White House has been expanded twice with soil moved from outside the building walls. As a result, the basement level of the White House is lower than that of most other buildings of its age. The location of the basement door, which can only be reached through a secure room within the White House, helps to ensure that nobody enters or leaves without permission.
In 1994, Congress passed legislation authorizing the executive branch to establish a program to improve the security of federal facilities. One aspect of this program involves the exploration of new technologies for use in protecting government facilities. This research led to the discovery of an existing tunnel connecting the White House to another federal building. The purpose of the tunnel is security, but it also provides staff with a quick way to go between the two buildings when one office space needs cleaning or maintenance work done on it.
The tunnel was first discovered in 1993 during investigation work being done on the White House grounds to prepare them for the arrival of President Clinton.
The White House, for example, has its own network of tunnels beneath it. This includes, as with the Capitol, one that is often used as a link to the offices in the adjoining Eisenhower Executive Office Building, also known as the Old Executive Building. The Eisenhower Tunnel connects the White House Visitor Center with the Eisenhower Executive Office Building via two separate corridors: one for pedestrian traffic and another for vehicle traffic.
The connection was originally built in 1957 by the National Park Service to provide emergency access to government offices in case of disaster. It was later upgraded by the federal government so that employees could travel back and forth without having to go through security at either end. Today, the tunnel is used primarily by staff members who need to travel between their offices within the executive branch agencies.
The tunnel passes directly under the East Room of the White House and provides direct access from the visitor center to the Oval Office, the president's private living quarters. It can be entered from the center's main lobby or the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall on the second floor. Visitors enter one side and are directed down a short corridor to a room where they can watch a video about the history of the White House.
After viewing the video, they will be taken into a large room where there are exhibits detailing the history of the United States government office space nearby.
President of the United States of America's residence and office It has been restored, extended, and even burned down during the previous 226 years, so it's no wonder that it's now packed with hidden features and built-in surprises! The White House is really buried beneath a network of underground hallways, chambers, and tunnels. The first family uses these routes to move from room to room or to escape if danger approaches. These passageways date back to the original construction of the house over 200 years ago and they are evidence that George Washington wanted his heirs to be able to flee in case of attack.
Today, only a few people know about the secret corridors, but when you visit the White House you can learn more about its history and take some time to explore them. There are five main areas to see at the White House: the East Room, the Green Room, the Oval Office, the South Lawn, and the West Wing.
The East Room is the largest single space in the White House and it serves as the venue for state dinners and other important events. You can see this room through a series of doors on the south side of the house across from the Blue Room. State dinners usually include a presentation of the colors for the countries involved, so look out for flags hanging behind the president or first lady during your visit.
In the early days of the country, before planes and cars, people relied on horses to get around.
The White House already has a number of tunnels, the precise number of which is, of course, classified. The most famous is the subterranean passageway leading to the President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), a reputedly nuclear-proof bunker six levels beneath the East Wing. There are also reported to be passages connecting the White House with other government buildings and private homes.
Some researchers believe that the first real tunnel under the White House was built by George Washington as part of his defensive fortification program here. They say it was about 80 feet long and ran from the southeast corner of the present East Room to what is now the Green Room on the second floor of the White House Visitor Center. Other sources dispute this claim, saying that there were indeed tunnels under the White House but they were not built by Washington when he restored the site following the British attack in 1776. According to these sources, the first tunnels under the White House were actually built in 1833 by the government surveyor who designed them. They were 20 feet wide and five stories deep, running from the basement to the third floor.
In any case, work continued on tunneling projects under the White House. The last major project was completed in 1939 by the U.S. Public Works Administration. It connected the Blue and Red Rooms on the second floor of the Executive Office Building next door with another public utility: the telephone system.