The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-30

decker, as a means Of relieving con-
res,ed trailic 1t is not so very nan
~srs ago when the double decker
nropos ftiun was the butt OF cartoonists.
1, those da, i'Dbudy ever dreamed OF
. douhi, dcckeIl elevated railroad, yet
q e barely " keeks sinCe the double
d, led elevated &Iilroad became a fin
,shed product, WITH expresses running
on every brtnchI and yet, though the
work involved - obstruction OF Gas
foundations, the frection of $1,000 tons
Of steel. the building of forty stations
and tn, laying jbf t~wenty-four miles of
single track. I WAS completed without
.,opp.ng a single scheduled train or
wing up traffic for one single hour.
some elevated rosd-eome piece of en-
sneering 80 as u man from the West
remarked the other day upon looking
tpor /. all for the first time.
when on October ~. 1904, the SUBJ
VA was opened 1t was looked upon
AZ one IL that very elastic group of
seven world wonders. People had been
s,pcc, ug L and II found n long line OF
Messengers waiting to take the first
lae for pleasure alone, Just as they
would wait to take a ride IN the loop
The loop or M other money gather
we freak piece Of engineering. Then
vnau the Hudson tubes were opened the
seven wonder rubber band stretched
little further and another long ex-
re,tci piece OF ngineering was com
Melted. Both these Jobs had been closely
pa'.l,d step by step by the public in
general. but when. as during the last
year. ,uti seventh year wonder band
s'rc,. he'd again and the elevated road
va reconstructed without holding up
q single train and without the loss OF
a singh l.fc nobody paid much atten-
ln. II mad all been done so quietly
'ha' there are probably in New York
'o-day people quite az ignorant Of the
fact that there exists the double decked
elevated railroad, with its expresses
running 10 every section of the city, as
'Iuse darkeys they tell about down in
ISOLATED portions Of the South who have
never heard Of the civil war. Yet as
a piece ~ local transit engineering IT
stands second only to the subway.
The whole work necessitated the
carving Of ten miles OF elevated rail-
road structure on timber shorlngs re-
placing IN meanwhile with the new
structure. reinforcing and rebuilding
foundations. Moreover. the Snoring had
~ ho designed to provide for local con
ft ous due To cOngestcd traffic of streets
md the numerous types OF elevated
structure to Ice supported. Yet SO care
July was this snoring constructed that
In 10 instance has any settlement re-
suited from 1t. Special care nae also
n he taken with regard to congested
traffic TO protect the Snoring from dam
age due to possible collision Of vehi-
c!es
or the 10000 tons OF structural ma
'erial used there was an enormous num-
her NJ structural members, hardly any
va Of which were alike. 1t is stated
that s.?5" shop drawings. 27x35 inches
each. had Ia be made before the ma
terra! could be ordered or the work put
N the bridge shops. The erecting work
vas done in the crowded t~horoughfares
and the material could neither he stored
IN quantities nor for long periods where
tie work OF 1ecting was being con
dI.ted To obviate this the steel work
Was delivered by the manufacturers "A,
'ermlnal yards in Jersey. and stored
,-ere until needed. 1t was lightered 10
N-w York as needed.
The work was technically known as
the Manhattan Elevated Improvements
and comprised the reconstruction OF the
Second. Third and Ninth avenue elevated
mes TO provide continuous third tracks
To- express trains from Chatham Square
- fordham o a on the East Side. over
.We Second and Third avenue lines. ard
rom tOgtldndt street TO both street and
shtA avenue, on the West Side over
he Ninth avenue line a two track ex-
tension Il the Second avenue line from
Chatham square to City Hall construc.
ton Of new terminals At city Hall and
Il la1th street aud Eighth avenue TN
elimination OF grade crossings at Fifty
third street and Eighth venue and a
Chatham square and the Bowery.
The TWO track structure in Park Row
including forty-four foundations, was
'dktn dow and replaced by "A new foui
rack douhle structure, and the old tive
rack terminal at City Hall was replaced
by Il new four track double d,,n termina
't1 tx train platforms. All this wa,
done While handling SO, tIu!ns and l20,
OQ' Passengers daily.
TIE old elevated structure In IN,
RoNery from Chatham Square TO Cana
erect was taken down. including seven,
teen OF its foundations. and replaced
win a five track structure. with track
az Two levels, thiee on the lower and twI
On the upper level.
Inc Two upper level tracks were ron,
.nued south in New Bowery to Franklin
square, whore a junction was made will
Inc Old local tracks, The entire struc
ture IN the immediate vicinity OF Chat
ram square, Including foundations. col
umns. cross Orders and track structure
vas taken out and replaced by a new
"Hcture with seven tracks. two on thu
UPPER level and tve on the lower, al
'h.!e carrying 1896 trains a day.
IN Third avenue at Ninth. Twenty
V.0' Forty-seCOnd and l06th streets
ana N Third avenue from l25th to 1891
sAeet the complete supporting struc
'1'e, including twcnty-siX OF its founda
'''S, 10 columns and fifty-five eros
Ffd'rS, was taken out and replaced b.
i'N and heavier structures to carr.
'a@ Increased loading from new uppe
'eN'I express stations. Structures 70
upper level tracks were erected betweeI
operating tracks. and the upper leve
i'a''0rmS were erected over train
operating on the lower tracks. In add
''N 20 TINS l0,U2J feet of single tract
STRUCTURE was built between operating
Tracks and 100 columns reinforced a
Lh' tor, willie the train and structur
1oad MAS transferred to timber supports
I~eggtps one Of the most notabl
pt.~5 ~ engineering in the whole re
o'''' Ic'.ou work was the constructio
" loluddtions on the south bank o
40 Harlem River for the new two trac
uNifr level approach to the Harler
fNtr bridge. The new foundations ar
.o'al"d close to the Harlem River. wher
N" ground liz very soft, with a tendenc,
10 no" toward the river. Complication
81 lu When Il was found that "A nun
Ger # foundations of the elevated struc
tire were close to those new foundatio
tNf~. and uaE maina and cADlPA MeT