Choose from these Attractions:

InformationWhat You Should Know
The tour is a guided walking tour, lasting about an hour and a half, of the four storey facility. Some special areas of "the bunker" that visitors will see are:

• the CBC Radio Studio and Control Room
• the Bank of Canada vault with its two foot thick 15 ton door
• Prime Minister's Suite offices and bedroom a lock-up
• a spacious cafeteria and kitchen which served four meals per 24 hour day
• the Emergency Government Operations Centre the War Cabinet Room
• a mock-up of a basement family fallout shelter
• 1 Megaton hydrogen practice "toss" bomb

The Tour now includes displays and exhibits, such as "Requiem" - a photographic display of the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Home and Community Fallout Shelters.

Hours

For the summer season, the Diefenbunker is open for public tours every day at 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm.

During the winter season, (beginning Labour Day) tours run at 2 pm Monday - Friday and at 1 pm and 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

For information or reservations,
Telephone: (613) 839.0007 or 1.800.409.1965
Email: tours@diefenbunker.ca

Admission Cost
 

Adults (age 18 and over)	$14
Seniors (age 65 and over)	$12.50
Students (with valid id)	$12.50
Children/Teens (age 6 to 17)	$6
Children (5 and under with an adult)	Free
Groups of 10 or more	by Arrangement
School-Organized Groups	by Arrangement
Gift Admission Certificates Available

Location
To get to the Diefenbunker from Ottawa, follow the Queensway (Hwy 417) West, take the Carp-Stittsville exit and bear right onto the Carp Road. Go approximately 8km into the village of Carp. At the 4-way stop in Carp, go straight up the hill, past the Carp Fair Grounds and watch for the signs on the left indicating the entrance to the Diefenbunker.

The Diefenbunker is located on the same grounds as the West Carleton Library. Follow the signs to the West Carleton Library. Drive past the guardhouse and park in the Diefenbunker parking lot.



The War Museum has provided artifacts as follows: a practice 1 Megaton gravity Hydrogen bomb actually used by CF-104 Starfighters for ground and flight practice, a conventional practice bomb from the Cold War era, 3 Air Raid sirens, a "Rad Sniffer" (radiation and blast monitoring device) and the detailed model built to scale originally used in the construction of the Diefenbunker.

The Blast Tunnel

The Blast tunnel is open at both ends, to allow the blast wave to enter one end and exit the other without resulting in excessive pressure on the main entrance, which is placed at 90 degrees with respect to the tunnel. It is large enough to allow cars and small trucks access.

The Air Lock

In the event of a crisis, the only access to the bunker would have been through this air lock. Massive steel doors protected the building from blast pressure, and of course, only one door of the air lock would have been open at any one time. If a nuclear explosion had occurred, personnel would have been required to go through the decontamination centre, just to the left of the inner air lock door, and then probably on to the hospital, which was adjacent.

Pillar Bases

Each pillar expanded at both the ceiling and floor plates, in order to resist "punch shear" from a blast overhead. This type of shear might have cracked the plates where contact with the pillar was made.

Top Level Hallway

Each floor is separated by a thick steel reinforced concrete slab. Throughout the building, at regular intervals, there are powerfully constructed pillars that extend from the 5 foot thick base plate to the 5 foot thick ceiling plate 60 feet above. These contribute to the building's tremendous strength - it is one of the most powerfully constructed buildings in North America, and was built to withstand a 5 megaton blast at 1.1 miles.

The Federal Warning Centre

The Federal Warning Centre received information about the emergency situation from various sources, including Emergency Preparedness Canada, and other military and civilian sources, including Cheyenne Mountain. It had the responsibility to initiate the sounding of all the sirens across Canada if necessary. The Diefenbunker was also the hub of the Canadian Military communication system, and would have served as the Central Government Emergency Headquarters in the event of nuclear attack.

CBC Radio Studio and Control Room

This fully functioning radio studio would have served as the main link between the average Canadian, who might be protected in a home shelter, and government services. An important piece of equipment for a home shelter was a portable, battery operated radio, in order to listen to messages from this room. The equipment from this room has been re-installed, thanks to the foresight of the Canadian War Museum. It is just one example of the reconstitution of key areas of the Diefenbunker.

The Machine Room

A tremendous amount of equipment was required to maintain redundant electrical power backup, air quality, communications, water pressure, sewage management and fire control, for example. The room originally contained four 327 kw diesel generators which would have supplied power in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Guides

Many guides for the tours of this facility are personnel who worked at some time in the Diefenbunker before it was decommissioned in 1994 when CFS Carp closed.

See a Virtual Tour

The hypertext link(s) below will connect you to a site(s) outside of ottawakiosk.com. These sites are not part of ottawakiosk.com. ottawakiosk.com has no control over their content or availability.

Visit the Official Web Site