The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-09-16
Wonderful achievement of
Pennsylvania Railroad
Engineers.
FIRST STEP COMPLETED
TUBES FROM OPPOSITE SIDE OF
THE RIVER MEET, AND CONNEC-
TION BETWEEN TWO STATES
MADE.
Publishers Press1


years and half of coltinucrs work
the eastbound and westbound shields
| in one of the 23-foot twin tubes, which
the Pennsylvania Railroad has been
driving under TIC Hudson river to
connect New York and New Jersey,
met today. Now men NAV walk
through, dryshod from one state to
! the other. The second tube, few
| feet to the south, is expected to join
about October 7th. The meeting of
the shields marks the beginning of the
completion of one Of the most aston
iShing engineering featS on record 1t
means the realization Of the long
time dream of the Pennsylvania Rail
| road-to land it's passengers in the
heart of Manhattan Island. Probably
no feat of railway strategy in the his
tory of the United States has attracted
more attention throughout the world
than this one. It's completion will
mark a triumph over difficulties of
tremendous magnitude, as this will be
the longest tunnel ever bored entirely
under water
For many years the Pennsylvania
Railroad has brought its passe ngers
to Jersey City, and there they have to
stop. The company looked longinsly
across the Hudson Ri yer, but for de-
cades it seemed impossible that this
longing could ever be gratified En-
gineers wagged their heads doubt
fully when the project Of tunnel was
broached and financiers were over
come at the thought Of the expense
of building bridge across the river
Soon after President Cassatt took
office, however. at the head of the
Pennsylvania system. he determined
that the ambition of the railroad
should be realized
How Tunnel is Bored.
The tube itself consists of series
of iron rings, and the installation of
every ring means a progress of two
and half feet Eleven plates and a
key piece to so at the TOP complete
the circumference, and an entire ring
weighs about fifteen tons. The cast
iron plate. or sections of the ring,
have fianges at right angles to the
surface and it is by these that the
successive rings are held together
with bolts. Hydraulic rams, placed
against the fanges every few inches
around the tube, push the shield for
ward at maximum of 3,400 tons; if
the pressure of the air in the tube
be taken into account the pressure
upon the shield is increased to 400
tons.
The shield itself weighs 194 tons.
1t has nine, doors in it, and through
these comes the rock, or sand, or salt,
or whatever the material through
which the tube must be driven. Thir-
ty men work in a gang, and there are
three shifts in the day OF twenty
four hours. The record progress SO
far is five rings or twelve an1 half
feet in eight hours. Men of all ma
tionalities have built the Pennsylvania
tubes under the Hudson, negroes hay
ing done large part of the job. Lazi-
ness is sometimes the cont actors
never had to contend with; they say
there must be something about the
compressed air which generates en-
ergy and enthusiasm for the muck
ers" vie with one another to make the
record number of rings.
Perhaps there has never been an
engineering project in which theory
and practice We're so nearly an agree
ment. The engineers calculated the
difficulties closely, and a really re-
markably system of reports has been
in effect from the first dag. Every
morning Mr.. Jacobs has known the
progress made the day before. to the
very inch. and the amount Of rock and
soil excavated. to the cubic foot The
Pennsylvania Railroad officers and
the contractors hold this perfect sys-
tenn and the thoroughness Of each
days work chiefly responsible for the
promptness of the meeting Of the
tubes.
Engineers say. too. that no project
was ever carried out where the enl-
phasis was so entirely upon the re-
suits, rather than upou the money it
costs to attain them. Records have
been kept with unpre eeedentll accu-
racy and fullness. ard they have heea
corrected, revised and re-revised with
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