page_title: BMT Fourth Avenue Line
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: BMT Fourth Avenue Line / History / Background / Construction
context_page_description: The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times, and a few rush-hour W trains. The R and W run local while the D and N run express at all times except late nights, when they run local. The line was originally built by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company and is now internally operated as part of the New York City Subway's B Division.
  The fully underground line starts as a two-track line in Downtown Brooklyn west of Court Street, connecting to the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Nassau Street Line in Manhattan via the Montague Street Tunnel under the East River. It travels east under Montague and Willoughby Streets to DeKalb Avenue, where it then turns southeast under Flatbush Avenue. At DeKalb Avenue, the express tracks, which continue from the Manhattan Bridge to the northwest, split off from the BMT Brighton Line and join the Fourth Avenue Line. At Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, the line curves southwest under Fourth Avenue to the end of the line at Bay Ridge–95th Street.
context_section_description: Contracts were awarded on May 22, 1908 for the section between 43rd Street and the Manhattan Bridge, but the Board of Estimate did not approve them until a taxpayer's lawsuit regarding the city's debt was settled. They were approved on October 29, 1909. During the time between the award and approval of the contracts, a non-partisan political body, with the backing of 25,000 South Brooklyn residents, was created that would only support candidates in the municipal election that pledged support for the Fourth Avenue subway.
  Groundbreaking for the first section of the subway, between DeKalb Avenue and 43rd Street (ending at 36th Street), took place on November 13, 1909 at DeKalb Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, after the plans and surveys for the line were completed. This section was completed in 1916. In June 1911, more than 70 percent of the excavation was completed. The line did not have to be excavated through tough bedrock like in Manhattan; in fact, there was not much difficulty, owing to the fact that Brooklyn soil is sandy. The construction of the first portion of the line was broken up into six sections. The construction of the line was expected to transform communities in South Brooklyn, such as Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Fort Hamilton, Bath Beach, and Coney Island.
  Construction on the section between 27th Street and 43rd Street, Route 11A4, began on December 10, 1909, and it was completed in October 1912. Construction began on Route 11A3, the section between 10th Street and 27th Street, on December 20, 1909. It was completed in May 1912. The section between 10th Street and Sackett Street, Route 11A2, had construction started on it on December 20, 1909, and was completed in September 1912. Four days after the construction of that segment began, construction began on the segment under Ashland Place and under Fourth Avenue between Fulton Street and Sackett Street. Known as Route 11A1 and 11E1, it was completed in 1915. On March 18, 1910, construction began on the four tracks over the Manhattan Bridge. It was completed in September 1912.
  Not long after the contracts were awarded, the PSC started negotiating with the BRT and the IRT in the execution of the Dual Contracts. A lease to the Fourth Avenue subway was given to the New York Municipal Railway Corporation, a subsidiary of the BRT, for forty-nine years as part of Contract 4. The Dual Contracts were signed on March 19, 1913. In 1912, during the Dual System negotiations, the construction of an extension of the Fourth Avenue subway was recommended as part of the Dual System, and this recommendation was approved by the Board of Estimate on February 15, 1912. The PSC directed its Chief Engineer to create plans on June 14, 1912, and the contracts for the extension, Route 11B, was awarded on September 16, 1912. Later on, the plan for the extension was modified to include a connection with the Sea Beach Railroad between 64th and 65th Streets.
  Construction on the southernmost section of the line to 89th Street, just south of the 86th Street station, began in late October 1912. The lower section of the line was constructed along with several branch lines, which replaced former surface railroads. These lines are the BMT West End Line splitting south of 36th Street, and the BMT Sea Beach Line leaving south of 59th Street. In anticipation of the opening of the subway, several housing and development booms occurred along Fourth Avenue, particularly in Bay Ridge. On January 24, 1913, construction begun on Route 11B2, the section between 61st Street and 89th Street. This section was built as a two-track structure under the west side of Fourth Avenue with plans for two future tracks on the east side of the street. The bridge across the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch, but under Fourth Avenue, was built for four tracks, but only the space for the two west tracks were ever used. The 86th Street station was designed for eventual conversion into a four-track, two island platform express station. If the two additional tracks were built, the east platform on all local stops south of
caption: The extent of the BMT's Dual Contract lines in 1924.
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