New-York tribune., 1907-11-03
EXPLORE BATTERY TUBE
ENGINEERS SHAKE HEADS
SkepticaI About Sub7cay Branch
Being Ready for Operation Jan. 1.

From the condition OF the Battery tunnel to
Brooklyn, hundred members Of the Brook
lyn Engineers Club II yesterday, it will be
impossible TO operate that branch of the subway
much before January l. Chief Engineer Rice, Of
the Public Service Commission. took the engineers
through tSe north tube from the Borough Hall
station under the river, 10 Battery Park.
For of that distance the bed of the tunnel is
in such condition that ties have been put down and
temporary rails laid. In about a &onth the work
will be SO far advanced. the engineers hope, that
the ties will be laid all through the tube the road
bed constructed and rails laid through the tube
TO the Borough Hall station. Chief Engineer Rice
said yesterday that probably would be
run through the tube by December l. These will
not be for passengers, though
Preliminary work for putting through the power
cables is about completed, that probably within
ten days the workmen will begin TO lay the cables
through the duct benches. Work is in progress at
The power station Willow Place where the high
voltage received from the Interborough power
house will be reduced to the eco volts used in the
tunnel.
Chief Engineer Rice met the Brooklyn engineers
at the Borough Hall yesterday afternoon and
grouped them in the subway station, just across
the street. Somewhat after the fashion OF the
1negaphone men sightseeing automooleS' ne
explained that the distance from the station TO
the Battery was about and half miles and
that about 670a feet of this was under the East
River OF that distance. he continued, some -'-VV
feet east from the Battery was through sohd rock
then came about 500 feet of fine sand ana graNei'
then reef of rock, extending for 400 feet foF
the remainder of the distance to Brooklyn lhe
tube had been pushed through sand and graNel.
The tube itself Of cast iron ranged iilleu
with concrete, and reinforced in certain secIoHS'
1+s inside diameter was about IS feet There were
four connections between the north ana souli
tubes Mr. Rice went on, and the tubes were ar
ranged so that traffic could be switched to el'heI
tube while the other was closed for repairs
Two ventilating shafts have been placed at the
BROOKLYN end of the tunnel-one at Hicks street
the other just before the tube plunges under the
river at Furman street. a third IS at the edge OF
Battery Park. in Manhattan.
After these statements had been digested the
expedition started II took Just three quarters oi
an hour to slosh through mud and water where
future generations of Brooklynites will travel IN
few minutes Only a few hundred feet of travel
from the Borough Hall station were necessary to
show how optimistic were the stories that the tune
would be opened by Thanksgiving. For part oi the
way incandescent lights blnked at the water run
ming nerrilv along the concrete bed of the tunnel
The concrete even had not been laid in the bottom
Of the tube. leaving n naked mass of water pipes,
wires and cables, and the ribs Of the tube ITSELF
but for at leas thalf the way. ties have been
thrown position and rails are half-spked into
place
Many Of the engineers were dsprited when hey
found an active young lake in the centre Of the
tuRhel. This about one hundred feet long, and
though only four five inches deep. caused much
scrambling along the sides of the tunnel and upon
the duct benches though some bolder spirits waded
through it. certain that It worse travelling
than the previous walk through half-set concrete
and mud.
Despite the damp. the lake and the flowing
brook Mr.. Rice explained that all this water came
from the water mains running through the tube and
was waste from the water used in laying the con-
crete There was a leak in the tunnel any
where. he declared: and. indeed the roof was dry
all along the route except at the shafts. where
much work is being done No air pressure is main
tained anywhere in the tube now. Under the river
at the reef. where III chores from the two sides
meet. there stiI1 remain few feet of rock in the
south tube. but this is being pounded away by
sturdy workmen with huge sledges.
Chairman WILCOX Of the Public Service Comms-
sion. hopes have the tunnel open in time for the
holiday travel because the Brooklyn Bridge at that
time will be jammed with than its usual rush
hour congestion The engineering department is
using every effort 10 hasten the work bring this
about and Mr.. Rice's prediction that some cars
though not for the transportation of passen-
gers would be running by December / is the latest
and most definite word that subject