LONDON ENGINEERING FEAT.

Shannon News, 22 May 1928, Page 3

LONDON ENGINEERING FEAT.

• «■ .; ■ —. UNDERGROUND ENTERPRISE, v LARGEST STATION IN THE WORLD . ; The greatest engineering feat Lon- ;-[ don has ever seen is well on the way , '", towards completion. It is th,e new Pie- ■ cadilly Cireus underground station. Comparatively few people realise that . the largest underground station in the <, world is under construction there, for ' J \ the bills on the hoarding state modest- j ly that work "in connection with, the- ■ installation of escalators" is in pro- - gross (states the "Daily Express" re-' ;. presentative). [ . : The enthusiastic official who conduct- "f ed a reported over the working inform- _.-■ »d him that — ; The station is 108 feet below ground - level. That there are hundreds of miles of . - wire in the pipe shaft. That nearly 200 men have been em- ■.- ployed for three years. That the station will be ready - opening by Christmas. I That there have been no casualties during the progress of the work. ' . The reporter's impressions were— "■. That the station is situated about - x halfway between ground level and Australia. That all the wires in the world meet at Piccadilly Circus. That the 200 workers were not men, but miracle-workers. That they must be if the station is . to be opened before next leap year. A NETWORK OF TUNNELS.

That, after climbing all 'the way down the shaft by means of ladders propped against shallow footholds, walking along narrow planks in semidarkness, banging his head against the top tunnels, leaping from plank to plank over pit 3 of blackness, stepping on an iron plate which revolved beneath his feet, and climbing all the way back up those ladders, represent one great casualty beneath. , The whole of the ground beneath the Circus is a network of tunnelß and escalators. There will be seven entrances leading clown a few steps to a circular tuanel, in the middle of which is tkf booking hall. Five escalators lead from there down to a common platform, from whieh three more escalators lead to the Ba-«o«| kerloo Railway and three to the Pieca- \ dilly Railway. The'old platforms remain, but the present station will be abolished and shops will probably be built on the site. The Circus itself will give no hint of what is underneath except for seven entrances built of imitation marble. The island, which is now surrounded by a hoarding, will be restored, and it is hoped Eros will once more shoot his arrows over the heads of the flower girls.