In March, 1941 the Department of the Interior sent engineers to Passage Canal to plat and survey the new townsite. Names for the future town were tossed around as the surveying progressed. A small community on Turnagain Arm already used the name Portage, so another name would have to do. Top contenders were Sullivan's Camp (or just Sullivan) — after the abandoned campsite, Portage Bay — after the formerly named inlet, and Whittier — after the glacier that hangs over the pocket of flat land the town would occupy.

The first major civilian subcontractor hired by the Army to help construct the tunnels arrived shortly, on June 13th. The West Construction Company of Boston Massachusetts won the contract, partly based on their past record. West Construction had only recently completed and opened the large subway system of downtown Boston, which grew into the massive transport system known today as the "T".

As anyone who has ever worked on any construction project in Alaska can tell you, the season for building is a short one. The earlier a start one gets in the spring, the quicker and easier the job will be finished, hopefully before the first snow of winter. This being said, notice that the U.S. Army and West Construction Co. did not even begin to work on the tunnels until late August of 1941. Using tractors, they began "facing-off" the surface stone for the first tunnel, through the base of Mt. Maynard. Initial boring began on the Passage Canal side, and later work dug from the opposite side.