Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-03-30
tandW the
BetweenN New orkan Jersey CITY.

levels so as to provide separate roadways
Tor traffic going In each direction. That is
TO say. each roadway will be wide enough
10 permit OF three lines Of vehicles going
In one direction. or total OF six lines in
both directions. The traffic entering tho
tubes Will be classified as slow moving.
such as horse drawn vehicles; medium as
motor trucks and BUSES, and fast. includ.
ing pleasure automobiles. Each class will
have to keep in the line designated for
that speed OF vehicles
Each roadway will be 90 feet G inches
wide, and on the upper level there will be
sufficient space on each side for yentlat.
ing apparatus and pedestrian roadway
The total underwater section of the tube
will be about ~ miles. and it is conser.
vatively estimated that /, will have a daily
capacity OF approximately 900 vehicles.
Statistics compiled from data OF 1917 show
that during that year $500 vehicles crossed
over the five ferry lines between New York
and New Jersey in the vicinity Of the pro-
posed tunnel every day.
II has been generally agreed upon BY all
experts consulted in the formulating of the
scheme that the New York entrance and
outlet to the tunnel should be located at
Canal street. the widest stree, in the down.
town crosstown section. The Jersey open.
ing would be AT Twelfth street. Jersey City.
\ question that was brought up in the
various dscussions-the proposition OF
ventiiation-has been dismissed bv Cen
cral Cocktails and other experts as a mat.
ter easy Of adjustment The poisonous
,F ..rhp do md In,
eXhaus. gases was believed by some 70
present a very serious difficulty in a ve-
hicular tunnel OF any great length
When the Public Service Corporation OF
New Jersey submitted its report it was &C
companied by report on its expert
mcnts in tunnel ventilation, and in the
tests n typical section of the tunnel was
used. Ventilators we're installed in these
tests, and it was found that when all doors
were closed and the vcntilators open and
cxhausting from the top Of the tunnel,
after the engines ttherc were eight cars in
the section) had been running light for
forty minutes the condition OF the atmos-
phere was almost normal. During this par
ticular test eighteen persons remained in
the tunnel and experienced no unpleasant
Subsequent distress. The contaminated air
analy sis in this case was
Per cent.
Unsatnra.cd hydro carbon. Dol
Carbon dioXide ....'............ o.Vb
Oxygen Observation-Disclosures. 2O.54
Carbon monoXdc .............. 0.0I5
While the proposed Hudson tunnel is
longer than any Of similar nature here
toforc built il is pointed out that there are
number OF other tunnels which are
operated successfully for vehicular traffic
without any mechanical means of ventia
ton. Chief among these is the Blackwell
Tunnel under the Thames River in Lon
don. This is Y miles long.
In stating his objections 10 the pre-con
structed section type OF tunnel which
would be laid in a dredged trench at the
river bottom, General Goethals gives some
interesting facts about the character of the
Hudson bottom in the region where the
tunnel will be built.
He states in part
THE material throug,,. mich the trench
must be dug is soft sill lad mud. Some
idea of the fludity of the material may b.
had from the tests made by dropping pole
4S feet long, weighing 80 pounds, of which
IS feet was of wood 2Ia inches in diameter
lc feet Of "a inch diameter steel. Under it,
own weight it penetrated the material [,
a depth of from q to Sc feet. The uppe
strata in close proximity to the water il
in such a liquid state as to be set in mo
ton by the passage OF deep draught yes
sells.
ct is true that the material becomes
more compact at the greater depths, yet i
is equally true that water admitted TO tn,
lower strata reduces these to the same con
sistency Of the upper strata, which will b.
the case if they are reached during TIT
progress Of the dredging operations
Tho so-caled Hudson River silt consist
Of minute PARTICLES Of trap, granite, san,
the result OF erosion o fthe rock forma
lions found along its banks. 1t overie
the rock as an unstable mass, affecte,
t by tidal fluctuations and temperature
D changes"