The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-07-09
x'eREkr ,v0Rr.
The Proposed Tunpci Under the Bed OF
t. the Hudson River.


The greatest fcats Of modern engineer
ing are the tunnels. Mount Gents, our
own Hooshc. the Sutro out in Nevada.
and, latest, the St. Gothard, are monu-
ments Of skill and toll worthy of COM
parison with the most stupendo,is works
of ancient Egypt. The tunnel under
the Thames at London may be said to
have inaugurated this particular branch
Of engineering, and now that the princi-
pal mountains which have been for
centuries impediments in the way of
travel and traffic are pierced, the next
great achievements In |. this direction
promise to be like the first, tunnels
under water. Leaving ont Of consider
alton the tunnel beneath the English
channel. the completion Of which seems
now Q remote contingency, we have
nearer home lin the tunnel under the
Hudson at New York an undertaking
rivaling in magnitude anything of like
nature hitherto attempted in this coun-
try. Work on this tunnel was begun
six years ago. but was delayed By long,
drawn litigation, the railroad COM
panies themselves, with their heavy in
vestments in depots and boats for cross
ing the ferry and their mutual jeal-
ousies, blocking in every way possible
the progress OF. the scheme. The chief
obstacles to the advance Of the tunnel
are now, however. said to be removed,
and the work is going steadily forward.
The forces behind the enterprise are the
Hudson Tunnel Railroad company, with
Dewitt G. Haskins as president. and o
capital Of SIC. O.0OO.0 900.
While the railway tunnel under the
Thames is about l,600 feet long, the ono
under the Hudson will be $500 feet. It
is, moreover, designed to be double-bar-
relied, so to speak-two tunnels running
side by side and converging and broad
ening into each other as either side Of
the river is reached. The depots of the
New Jersey end will be half mile back
from the river, but the location of the
terminus on the New York side has not
vet been fully decided. Excavation,
thus far confined to the Jersey side OF
the river. has been pushed forward over
sixty feet beyond the outer edge OF the
docks. Three gangs of forty men work
ing eight hours each make progress at
the rate of three feet day, and it is
hoped by its projectors that the tunnel
will be finished in 1888. or in time to
land In the heart OF the city the antici-
pated millions of visitors to the inter-
national fair which New York Is plan
ming in honor of the centennial ami
versary of the recognition OF American
independence.
The methods Of construction employed
in building the tunnel are carefully
Illustrated in a recent number of the
Scientific american, upon which we
dlaw for some of the more interesting
details. At the foot Of Fifteenth street,
Jersey City, 100 feet from the water, a
shaft has been sunk, thirty feet in
diameter and sixty feet in depth. This
Is lined with brick work four feet thick.
The river, somewhat shallow ON the
Jersey side, deepens to sixty feet within
I. 100 feet Of the eew York shore, and the
tunnel will be carried on n grade some
twenty-five feet below the river bed.
The digging SO far has been very easy.
and the mixture OF blue clay and sand
Is puddled with water as it is removed
and forced out by the pressue of the air
through six-inch pipe. AS the New
York side OF the Hudson is approached,
however, solid bed of rock will con-
front the excavators. An original feat
ure of the work upon this tunnel is the
use of mpressed air to keep out water
and uphold the earth. An air-lock
closes the mouth of the tunnel, and q
pressure OF from seventeen to twenty
pounds to the square inch Is maintained
inside its gates. With some precau-
tion in making the change from the out
side air the laborers find no difficulty
In breathing and working under this
increase of the ordinary atmospheric
pressure; the electric light illumines
with MONDAY brightness the scene OF
their subterranean tasks, and the handy
telephone serves for communication
with the managers above ground. Foot
by foot as the work is advanced the tun-
mel is positively inclosed with bolted
sheets Of thick boiler iron, making a
huge iron cylinder; this, in turn is lined
completely around with hard brick
wall two feet in thickness, presenting a
substantial arch capable of withstand
ing great pressure Mt the sides as well as
at the top. rD-
When the great work Is at last ac-
complished, it is estimated that the tun-
mel will allow of the passage Of 400
trains a day. The advantages to New
York of the Hudson river tunnel, as
can readily be seen, will be immense.
Not only will it vastly economize tho
business of freighting and ordinary
travel. but 1t will vie with the elevated
railways in opening ways to new and
inexpensive homes to moderately cir
eumstanced ens.-Spvingfeld Re-
publican.