Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-05
WORK ON THE TUNNEL
Construction Being Pushed
Ahead Vigorously
TO THE UNION STATION
BIG HOLE WILL BE READY BE-
FORE BUILDING.
Detailed Description Of the Manner in
Which the Work Is
Carried On.


| II VIII De some months before the union
station tunnel is completed, and even then
1t will be done and ready to run trains
through some time before the union station
is ready to use It. The tunnel is not, as
has been stated. yet run through, and will
not be through at the upper drift for about
ten days. But the work is progressing sat-
isfactorily, and the men farthest ahead in
the upper chamber are just about under the
| car tracks at the northeast corner of the
| new House Of Representatives office build
| ing. There is about 100 feet more before
| the tunnel will break through into the open
| cut north of c street, where the work Is
| almost, but not quite, completed into the
| union station.
| When the tunnel is run through to meet
| the open cut on the north the work will
| have been going on for about year and a
| half. In that time the tunnel will have
| been driven straight through Capitol HILL
The undertaking, as whole, has been re-
| markably free from accidents There has
| been little settling Of the street on the
| corners of the Capitol grounds opposite the
west front Of the Library of Congress, but
| this has been small compared to the trouble
usually experienced in putting a railroad
| tunnel under a city.
Other Tunnels.
The experience with the tunnel running
| under Baltimore might be cited. when it
was thought for while that large slice
of Howard street was going to drop
| through or the "rupenny Tube In
London, where though the tunnel was ITO
| feet under ground IN places, the walls Of
houses cracked and settled, and there was
| talk at one time among the householders
Of getting out an injunction 10 stop the
road.
The deepest point In the Capitol Hill tun-
mel is eighty-seven feet below the grade,
| and 1t enters at grade level on both ENDS.
| If the company had been allowed 10 WORK
| nv the omen cut method it would have cost
| them a great deal less, and the work prob
ably would have been completed by now,
but by boring through there has been no
| surface disturbance and the work Will De
| completed now before the railroads are
ready for it.
| rThere is said TO be no truth In the story,
persistently circulated, that there mas peeh
continual friction and i'll feeling between the
Capitol authorities and the tunnel people
The tunnel does run under the southeast
corner of the new House office building, but
the work has been so arranged py poth par
ties that there is no conflict. Inc tunnel
peopIo have spent some hundreds OF thou
sands OF dollars in reinforcing the tunnel
and arranging the work so that the Senate
building would not be interfered with and
could at the same time get satisfactory
foundation The House building work, on
the other hand, has been pushed on the
west and north sides and delayed on the
|, through and have a good foundation behind
it. 1t has not cost the Senate contractor
quite so much money as 1t has the tunnel
people, but it has cost good deal. Both
sides, however, have been mutually accom-
modating and thorough good feeling is said
to exist between them.
Much Machinery Used.
One reason for the comparatively small
number of men employed on the tunnel
work is that there has been so much ma
chinery used. Probably no tunnel has yet
been drilled where machinery played so
large a part Both electricity and COM
pressed air have been used on an uncom-
monty large scale. The shovels inside are
run by compressed air, the pumps and rail-
way by electricity, mechanical centers are
run on rails to build the arches. mortar and
cement mixed by electricity, machines
do much of the filling in above the tunnel
roof. and the work throughout is lighted by
incandescents. Manual labor has been dis
pensed with wherever 1t Is possible.
Shown Through Works.
A Star reporter was taken over the works
today and shown the big undertaking in
detail The tracks that will enter the tun-
mel from the south will come up about to
E street in viaduct above grade. Thence
by short open cut they will reach the
mouth of the tunnel proper at d street
southeast and west of LIST. A gradual curve
to the northeast will swing the tunnel under
list street, whence 1t will run direct to the
| covered cut at street on the north side.
The tunnel is double-barreled-one track
for northbound and one for southbound
trains. The completed section is II feet in
the clear from the track to the brick arch
overhead Every 100 feet there Is small
archway connecting the two tunnels and
forming safety inches for workmen who
may necessarily be in the tunnel while
| trains are passing. Every 400 feet there will
be manhole leading to electric conduits.
There will be fan machinery for keeping
the tunnel air fresh. but the trains will al
most do that themselves. The total length
will be AGO feet.
The Storage Yard.
The storage yard at the south end of the
tunnel contains the air compressors-a big
threc-boiler plant, used for running much
of the machinery and for supplying cool
air to the tunnel workmen. And in spots
they need It. The yard is piled high with
cut stone, three sorts of bricks, sand, ce-
ment and the lile Railroad tracks run
into the yard and bring the sand in big
steel hopper cars to the storage place,
where 1t is carried on an endless belt to the
mechanical mixers, where 1t is made into
mortar or concrete, as the case may be, for
use in the tunnel.
The big drums of the mixers revolve
ceaselessy, slanting blades inside churning
up the sand cement and broken stone.
Every now and then the little fiat trolley
car mud-stained and disreputable, buzzes
out of the tunnel with a string of tiny
fiat cars even more disreputa ble-looking
than itself. and backs them under the mix
ers. The big drums are tipped by machin-
cry and shoot out trainload of unwhole-
some-looking slime into the waiting cars.
Then the fiat train, with its mud-stained
crew. draws into the tunnel. 1t is not clean
working under ground.
Hardest Part Done.
The hardest part of the work in the tun-
mel Is about done, but there Is plenty left
to show how 1t has been and is being done.