New-York tribune., 1902-06-29
BUILDING GREAT PIERS.
fHE JERSEY RIVER FRONT IN
PROVEMENT.
york OF GREAT MAGNITUDE. FAR
1 REACHING IMPORTANCE AND
ENORMOUS COST.

THE appropriation by the Board of Estimate the
6ther day OF s6ocoeoo for the purchase of dock
property and the construction Of modern piers
huIkheads and wharves the North River front
hf Manhattan Island welcomed by many who
Advocate the municipal ownership OF the city's
waterfront and by many others who dislike 10 ac-
knowledge the fact that the opposite waterfront
nu the Jersey shore bids fair to surpass that of
EewYork, in freight handling facilities unless the
nlty bestirs itself.
Great Improvements taking place just across
NE Hudson The New-York Central Railroad. for
instance is now building freight terminal in
Neehawken which. when completed year nence'
N1n be able to handle almost a thousand carloads
q day The work Of enlarging this tremendous
freight station begun a year ago. and viii cost
considerably over 600. The water frontage IS
sust one mile in length From one end TO the
other a bulkhead. or crib is being built, from
(which fourteen piers viii shoot out into the river
This crib is a work OF some magnitude in Itself
1t is made by driving two rows Of piles down eighty
Feet into the mud and sand several feet apart the
rows being about forty feet apart on the top and
sH<+v eeet anart at the waters edge. Huge cross
stmbers are Their spiked and bolted on the INSIDE.
The space between is then filled with stones ano
coarse gravel In. the construction OF lts .cii'
shree million linear feet Of logs have been useo
If nlaoed end to end they would form line almost
six hundred miles long. million POUNDS OF spiAes
were used: Just five hundred tons
The crib is almost nnlsheo, ana 'hs coi-
etruction of the piers has begun. One OF THESE
d. No will ne the largest in New-York Har-
tor: in width it will 200 feet ana from lts
end to where leaves the crib Will be $40 fee over
eight thousand piles will be used in its construc
ttop alone material which it has taken an enure
forest CT tall trees supply. All these plles nave
been brought up from the South
In the middle OF each pier two tracks are lald on
/ beams below the level Of the floor SO that the
/ contents of each may be rolled out in few
minutes and into lighters or SHIPS lhoOleu aioIls
sidc
A new grain elevator is also TO be built which
will be able to receive the contents of four hundred
cars each day The old one has capacity OF three
hundred: together they will be able TO take care OF
an the grain that will ever come into the terminal
for many years hence.
Inside -he crib there is stn much land to be
Aued in Contractors who are clearing rocky land
"a Manhattan only too glad to send over raft
aoads of rocks at their own expense to be dumped
IN here TO make solid ground for the tracks These
tracks viii aggregate thirty-fve miles in length
and will give room for almost five thousand cars
On Pier No. Il large marine repair shop Will De
eut TO be one of the most complete in the har-
bor Here all the tugs. launches and lighters be-
longing 10 the company can be repaired, as well as
freight and locomotives
73 a similar work this, and perhaps OF even
greater magnitude. is being done by the Pennsyl-
( yania Railroad ct Greenvile, N ]. An artificial
peninsula is being built out into the harbor,
which will leave only a narrow passage between
sts outernost point and Bedlow's Island The
+ area to be filled in viii amount to four hundred
i acres almost as large that part Of Manhattan
below Fulton-st An outside run or bulkheao mas
i already been built and now fourteen dredgers are
i Elling in. This is done by emptying the mud and
f water froui the dredgers into huge hulks, from
: which * is pumped through pipes two feet in
4 diamete- over the dixie into the lagoon in the
i middle The mud spreads all over the pottonl.
forming huge banks. but the water runs OF to one
emu of the lagoon, where # pours out into the bay
eye,n through small artificial opening tn the bulk
head Like tremendous cascade, it roars through
I thousands OF gallons each minute. making the only
beautiful spectacle TO be seen in that great area
Of mud and water.
6eep that large ocean steamers can be moored
alongside and load directly from the freight cars
thus saving the time required for loading in hght-
ns INTENDED Sax for VI thf f. city Bowes @
assistant engineer of the Pennsylvania Ranroae'
under whose supervision the work is going on est-
mated that the eos: Of this work would reach con,
daby 9 s but IT toTeted MIL Pc fug 6nlv Te
pisrs win be constructed but that number will be
suffc,ent, as most Of the loading can be done
middle q the n ag0Sp tbs t5sos sths4 nas
sione which ocOn1otive pus up and do down Ia2d all
day haSng aonS 81 the entire length Of the
tresfie thus dividing the lagoon by sort OF back
Walked upon. what remains Of the piles above the the
sOsa. ssOsa w o be eTs snenng TO
When finished, which may be FIVE years henee; sss
TIE jersey Central is also doing important
x5rk on the water frontage which it opposite
wills Island Several dredges are al work hlhng
IN land but the work goes on slowly as the needs
of The railroad No definite plans Tor the
entire terminal have Yet been made, and IL may
be ter years before all the work here is com
pleted The Jersey Central has a longer water
frontage than any of the other companies-o one
and a half nilse. Almost 600 acres ef land has has
been reclaimed from the water at cost OF several
millions 1t is intended to build several large
been approved the work Of filling in is steadily
going ahead.
The piers Of The North German Lloyd Steamship
Company which nearing completion in Ho-
boke:a mark a departure in the science OF pier
construction. After the terrible experience of the
Hoboken fire, which in the course of four hours
swept the wharves Of the company and converted
them Into ash heaps besides setting fire to four
cceaEgoing steamers, the North German Lloyd
sought in the construction Of .ts new wharves. to
guard IN every way possible against the repetition
Of such q catastrophe The piers are proof not
only egsfnst the encroachment of outside fire.
but also against any possible confagratton under
their own roofs.
Along the waterfront and supporting the outer
wall Of the great terminal building the shore
has been built eoJ-foot bulkhead with granite
ane concrete foundations. The floors of the
terminal building OF concrete supported on
brick arches Extending from the terminal building
At right angles like the teeth of colossal comb.
built three piers nearly go feet into the river.
and each is - feet IN width The piers sup
pofte0 on wooden piles, which protected against
4re by the concrete floors and freproof piankfng.
overhead the continuous skylights are made of
S1rso glass, which be subjected to great heat
Rnoas falling to pieces In case Of fire from