TUNNELS UNDER NEW YORK

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 736, 8 February 1910, Page 6

TUNNELS UNDER NEW YORK

';'■;.*;:'' ; ,v'.■..*.!>>;■'- *:'-■ - ■: : GREAT WORK COMPLETED. •. ! The great'"tunnel system, of: the" Phila-; delphia Railroad:. Company • connecting Long. Island,,with..' New "Jersey, has. been iiompleted -;(says- the-iSan' iFrancisoo, cor- ■ iesj>oiident : of the Melbourne ; "Age").' The ,undertaking .involved" the*, construction- of tunnels ibeneath-!'two- 'broad;' rivers—the Hudson and the' East. The tunnels start at Jereey 'City, burrow under Hudson River, .'.then proceed across-.,'the - entire, width of Manhattan Island—the real New York under East 'River, and reach" their terminal pn Long. Island, in! tho .vicinity'of ;■ Brooklyn.- > The' entire ' length!^ : .of "the^ ;xtear^;'.';;2sj(X>P i . Heretofore I ™. order to reach Kew York City" over ' : the;lihes- of■' the! Philadelphia; Railroad Company it has-: been- necessary to.'- leave- 'the"; train atJersey.; City /ana make- the"Temaihder.'of the"trip.;',by .ferry.' Now, however,''the 'trains will; run right into t the : ' : hPa.rt: ■ ofV the'* city, •• The ! he'w .passenger-term inaldepot'of'thecompany covers- two city Mocks 'in" a' most "central' situation; bounded "by: Thirty^first""and Thirty-thiii' .'Streets" and" Seventh; and, Eighth'; Avenues.' •':Th6'"dime'ttSioiis,' of - the . station are 480"feet by-:7So,feot; It is a' magnificent. structuie modelled.'. , on: the Roman'baths of Caracalla, 'and it,' is .said no-finer-radlioadistation'-'is to'be found any part of the'wor'ld.,; As, the "tracks "are 1 iO- feet '■ Wow.'.the-.siirf ace; the "station" has' three levels. "' : ' '; " The Pennsylvania Raiioad's ' tunnel .'and terminal system • has been'. prosecuted - for six . years without ..regard'- to; cost."' Two Bteel-ringed tunnels have, been driven from point, to; podht';";,The engineering -A*ork has been somewhat of.' an .'experiment :■ with shields,-great "ringA of' steel 'being, closely, welded" together 'as the excavation gressedi' the : placing .of'each metallic circuit advancing"; the: work -tWo feet. "Under" both -'rivers' '".the tunnel went " for much ' of' the "'way through' solid; rocki where .tio'-'steel ' stTucture' was as well built-as where'' it- pushed- through sand.. Under New York City' much- rock was also penetrated. Throughout the bore no !seepage"impossible unless the' steel: envdope should be"rent' "by' aii" 'explosion. Needless, .'to. ':say,'- .'electricity. will',be the tractive power'-of. trains "running through tbe"tunnels.,./r.v!"*.'■ "v.;■-

i These are not the only tunnels - pushed i under,' thie 'Eudfon "and; East' rivers in the I last ' two years. ' Much of the suburban traffic . between' New Tort' city proper aid. New .Jersey ;.is.:conveyedVunder. the. Hudson' iii tainels.bored.,by>. the: M'Aa'r.', I.company, - many, ferry, boats. having been, laid up -in consequence.. : There ■ are,, also tunnels . running-! under 'East;. Kiver con-: necting Brooklyn with' thei : heart of.; haittan..These.;carry.'buch.of>the. traffic, the' two of . Greater'New'Tort,! thus relieving to some extent the; inhuman, crush i .every ; nightandmorning ,on ' Brooklyn:bridge. ... which aroused the, .ire.:'. of. _ .Governor';- Hughes whan he' took office three years, ago. .The trains, run into a.' central point in Brooklyn, where, the .passengers are distributed iato .other subway.iand: surface, cars run-, ning all over the borough. . ' , , i The', advance of -. - underground .. transportation is \ the most notable •" develop-, ment in connection- with New,'" York's traffic , problem .in recent ; years, - apart from: the, complete , substitution of ; electricity. for aU '. other ".-tractive.:? agents. There is a project now .on foot for, the construction of underground / -moving sidewalks. " The pedestrian stepping on the apparatus '. ' would be ;. carried, along without.-,effort on';his own part. ..The Ob; ject is to- relieve the .crowding.'-of-the footpaths, especially in:the. central shopping parts of-the-city. ..