New-York tribune., 1879-03-25
ADVANCING RAPID TRANSIT.
WORK on TIE EAST SIDE.


TIE METROPOLITAN ELEVATED EOAD IL SECOND
AND r1RsT AVENUES-THE WEST SIDE EXTEN-
sIoNs
Nearly 1000 men are now employed on the work
Of placing foundations for the Metropolitan East
Side Road In addition to the gangs in Division
and Alcn-sts and in FIrst-ave.. on Thursday sixty
additional men began work in FIrSt-avc., near
Twenty-irst-St., where rock has to be blasted out
for the openings. When The necessary permits are
obtained from the Department Of Public Works,
which will be az sCOn as the engineers have the
maps ready TO submit, a large IOrce, probably as
many as 500 men, vii b" gwen work III second
ave. above Twenty hird-St., where the road leaves
Iirst-aVc. ii rs expected to begin tins on March
~ All tie foundations are complete, ana the IRON
bases Tor the columns are m position III DvSlon-St
and in Alien-s'. most cf the excavations have been
dug. They will all be completed 10 IluIntUh-St.,
where HFst-ave. begins, by Wednesday, and the
tagging will have been rCpllc"d In these two
streets there are 2O2 foundations, and over lO0D,
OGC bricks have been used in bul,ding hem. LARGE
vaults have been broken into and putt up AGAIN IN
many places. The stones taken fioin them have
been broken up aud used IN making the concrete
placed in the bo tom of the excavations.
In Firs-avc., on The east side, where the work Is
| begun more difficulties have been met with than
| WcIc anticipated. Ii digging, al depth OI three
feet two iron water mains are found. ah0ut foot
guart I : aud 90 inches IN diameter reSpcctivclv
Then at depth oi ten feet sewer pipe II inches
III diameter, is encountered. Instead OF ten feet
square and seven feet deep as would be sufficient
Tor the were tltic no bb~lihc IONS tlittul-
tered the excavations have to be sixteen feet by
! ten feet square and fourteen feet deep The per
is then bult with three columns as high as the top
Of the mines over which are placed blaze stone caps
! iour feet square and ten inches thick. Iron ties
are also pat III 10 strengthen the work, and double
! the number of bolts required Tor holding the
| columns than are used elsewhere. In building
these piers l3 600 bricks putin each more than
| twice rs many as IN the Division and Aen-st. piers
aud the cos is nearly four times a. great. on the
west side of Fr>t-ayc sewer pipes 80 ana II inches
| will be E,dged over. between Fifteenth aud
Twcutict h-sts. the ground IA so soft that piles VIII
| have To he driven IN to sustain the work. In
Second-avc. the soil is such that no trouble Is
pcc;cd untIl Forty-Sevcnth-st. Is reached, when
| tgcachcrOUs ground Is cnconniercd; and from
! FIfticth to NIuctictI-,ts. rock VIII have to he
| blasted out. Beyond that. in the Harlem Flats,
TO huld securely will bo work of great difficulty.
On the West SIDE TIE builting Of sections at
Filty-nuth. Scyeuty-SccOnd and Eighty y-hrst-sts..
in NiHth-ave., is going on, and they are
completed this part of the road will hc opened to the
public As IT is owned jointly by the two companies
| The employees at the stations will be appointed by
| both. Ihc iron work on tue Metropolitan Road IN
Ninth-avc., beyond ghty-third-si., at which point
the Newl0rk Road passes TO Tcnth-ave., Is up for
several blocks aud force of 200 men Is engaged
in laying foundations; many OF the holes are tull OF
water and steam power is employed to pump II out.
SUCCESS OF THE CITY HALL BRANCH.
Trains on the City Hall Branch of the New-YOrk
Elevated Railway did not run Sunday last, not
withstanding the announcement in Saturday 5
papers tha; they would do so. 1t stated yester
day by Mr. Guildford, the vice-president of the
company that the advertisement was mistake.
1t should have announced that Sunday trains would