A GIGANTIC ENGINEERING FEAT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 187, 11 September 1909, Page 3

A GIGANTIC ENGINEERING FEAT

"New York and New Jersey, on oppo site sides of the Hudson River, were united on Monday bv a set of tunnels and electric trains. ' This wedding of the two great cities means almost as much to both parties as a tunnel between Dover and Calais would mean to England and France.' is one enthusiastic description," says the Telegraph. \ TRIUMPH FOR BRITISH ENGINEERING.

"In New York, as elsewhere, the question of solving the traffic problem has for years occupied much attention. With the'completion of the twin tubes under the River Hudson, uniting the great cities of New York and New Jersey, a most important epoch ha 6 been marked. These tubes arc now ready for traffic. To Britishers it ia a matter of pride that Mr. Charles Jacobs, the Eiigl ; «h engineer, formerly of Hull, lias proved' himself the transportation genius of New York. This great expert in tube construction is not only the engineer of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company, which has constructed the. work now open, but is also consulting engineer of the Pennsylvania Railway Company's tubes, which arc necessary to complete the cordon of underground communication. "Mr. McAdoo. chairman of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company, and a young Southern lawyer, who has been the moving financial and organising spirit in the enterprise from its inception, is not exaggerating when !'c says that the last set of twin tubes under the Hudson river, opened for operation on 19th July, connecting the great terminal building at the corner of Church and Cortlandt streets. New York, with the Pennsylvania railroad terminus in Jersey Cjty, marks practically the completion or one of the most stupendous engineering and financial enterprises that has ever been attempted in this or in any other country. THE MOVING SPIRIT.

"On 2nd August, two weeks later, the transverse tunnel connecting Jersey City with the Eric Railroad and the Delsware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad at Hoboken will be completed an 1 will form the final link in the dow.itown chain of tunnels. When the work is finally completed at will have cost !>■•- tween £13.000,000 and £14,000.(1(10. all private cauital. "Throughout the system, which com-r-rises about twenty miles of vmrti-r----fivcr and underground railroad, the stations arc designed with a view to comfort, permanence, and beauty. They are made large enough not merely to ne--1 commodate the metropolitan traffic of to-day, but to receive comfortably the greatly-increased multitudes sure to travel by underground routes in the decades to come. Every part of the stations is constructed either of concrete or imetal, so that, like the cars anil the tunnel, there is no possibility of fire.

"No sketch of the tunnels will be complete without a word concerning the great, Terminal buildings, occupying nearly two blocks on Church-street, be tween Fulton-street__on the north and Cortlandt-street 011 the south, anil only one block west of Broadway. This has justly been called the •nerve-centre' of New* York. These buildings arc twentyfour stories in height, and house wore than 12,000 persons—a city in itself. On the upper floors of the two buildings, which are connected by a bridge across Dey-street, are great luncheon clubs, with every convenience for the hurried business man who wishes to entertain his out-of-town friends very pleasantly and comfortably. . AN AMAZING STATION. "Underneath the buildings is the Terminal station, the largest in the world. Not only is it a terminal station, but it is a perpetual bazaar as well. It will be possible .for the hurried traveller to purchase there in the various booths which line the sides of the station alinost anything in the way of the ordinary necessities of life."