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An article in the New York Times dated 1908 wrote, "one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished, greater perhaps than the Panama Canal will be when opened, considering the obstacles which had to be overcome". During the 18th century, New York City was rapidly increasing in population and it was becoming a major economic hub. Millions of immigrants were pouring in from all over the world as they saw future and a means to not only earn him a living but also thrive. The movement of such a large number of people to the city created many problems. New York City and New Jersey were becoming denser. The Hudson River stood as a barrier and there was a need to link these two places to allow for the movement of goods and people. From this need came the idea of boring a tunnel through the Hudson River connecting both cities together.
The initial sponsor of the project, Dewitt Haskin, started the project in 1874 but was unable to see it finished because he quit in 1887 after only 1600 feet of this tunnel were completed. The tunnel was the largest transportation tunnel which was constructed under a major river in the United States. When the talk for a tunnel was being discussed there was another possibility of creating bridge connecting Manhattan and New Jersey but the tunnel was a better option since it could allow for the movement of a large number of people via train tracks. The other reason was that it was known that the Hudson River consisted of silt and mud at the bottom which would help facilitate the creation of a tunnel under the Hudson River. Obviously, they were major challenges to the creation of a tunnel since something like this had never been done before Indian states. However asking felt that he had the right it meant and ideas to bring this project to a completion. Obviously it seems that he was mistaken.
The Hudson River connected Manhattan and New Jersey and there was a problem with transporting people from these two places across the river ferries were getting congested and there was just not enough transportation options for people wanted to move back and forth.
The Hudson Manhattan tunnel is a construction marvel. A century old now it allows for the passage of underground railways from New Jersey through New York under the Hudson River. The Hudson and Manhattan tunnel which is also referred to as the Hudson tubes is actually a series of double tunnels. The idea of creating a tunnel or bridge linking both New York and New Jersey was nothing new however the technology was lacking. The creation of the New York and Jersey tunnel company began the project of the Hudson Manhattan railroad tunnel. The project started in earnest in November, 1874. The plan for putting a bridge or a tunnel under the Hudson River had been in motion for all while in the middle of the 19th century, but it was not until the creation of the Hudson River Company that plans actually took off.
The Hudson and Manhattan tunnels required extraordinary vision and determination on the part of the designers the construction workers and investors. The chief engineer, Haskins initially thought that the mud and silt at the bottom of the river was dense enough to support the construction of a tunnel without the help of an excavation shield and no iron sheet. His plan was to use 35 pounds of compressed air as a means to support the integrity of the tunnel and it was to be held in place with the use of a brick lining which was going to be about 2 1/2 feet thick. The idea was to keep excavating the tunnel by keeping the integrity of the pressure to keep the water out and to also hold the tunnels iron plate liners. The first thing that needed to be done in order to start the process of creating these monumental tunnels was the sinking of the shaft on the New Jersey border that was to be about 100 feet from the river. After the shaft was inserted to approximately a depth of 60 feet, it was used as a starting point for the tunnels direction. The water was expunged by using compressed air.
1909 Illustration of A Juction
After Haskin’s departure, the Hudson tunnels project was headed by two engineers, Speil and Brush, the engineers felt that a one tunnel was not enough and that two tunnels were needed which were both to be of elliptical shape and could carry one track each. The initial design included the tunnel to have the dimensions of 18 feet high and 16 feet wide.
The initial assumption of the chief engineer Haskin that the tunnel would hold due to the compressed air turned out to be wrong. An accident occurred during the construction of the tunnel which led to the loss of 20 workers due to leak which led the compressed air out and caused water to go in the tunnel drowning the workers. The problem was that the tunnel was constructed without the use of an excavation shield because the chief engineer, Dewitt Haskin, believed that the river silt could maintain the form of the tunnel with only the use of a brick lining. The using of compressed air to keep the water out and to also hold the tunnel’s integrity was a risky one. The loss of the lives of 20 workers due to this accident with the project under jeopardy since the money ran out while settling with the relatives of the deceased workers. After a series of such accidents it was realized that the initial plan of using compressed air to keep the integrity of the tunnel intact was not working.
The construction of the tunnel had many starts and stops due to the lack of funding. Construction again resumed in 1902 and a different method of tunneling was used which employed tubular cast iron plating. The tubular cast plating involves moving a mechanical shield through the silt in the river. The use of the mechanical shield which was pushed through by means of Jack's allow the silt to be removed from the tunnel and that was carried away from the worksite via carts in some scenarios kerosene torches were used to bake the silt and allow for easy removal. This method of tubular cast iron and tunneling shield was employed in the construction of the southernmost tunnel of the uptown tunnels as well as the downtown tunnels. The other tunnel was also constructed in a similar manner.
The two tunnels were separate for each track which led to better ventilation because of the piston affect. The piston affect is when a train moves through the tunnel and creates a vacuum behind it which allows the air from the surrounding areas to move thereby increasing the ventilation in a tunnel drawing in fresh air and removing stale air.
The project was started in the late 19th century during which time there were not that many strict worker laws to protect the workers. Therefore, workers worked long hours and in conditions that would not be acceptable today. The loss of the 20 workers due to the blowout incident was also proof that precautions were not taken to protect the workers on this project. The use of technology which was not tested out in such a project also contributed to the loss of lives and at the same time delayed the project considerably.
During this era, America was going through a turbulent time and also the economy was not doing too good. The loss of financing to this project because of the massive overruns and also the untested technologies that were used also created major problems for the sponsors of the project. Any project of this size is bound to run into complications and the Hudson and Manhattan tunnel project was no exception. Even after the project was completed the project suffered from massive budget deficits caused by unpredictable passenger usage and also the maintenance of such a big project required a considerable amount of money.
During this era, America was going to a massive change in that the industrial age was at full swing and companies were competing against each other to get a hold of capital and the means for production. The railroad companies at that time were it increasingly being aggressive with each other in trying to run each other out of business. The project was delayed considerably due to an injunction brought about by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The New Jersey and New York areas were heavily populated doing that era and there was a great need for something that would allow the people from New York to go to New Jersey and vice versa this project was started to meet that need. At that time it was decided that it was easier to create a tunnel linking Manhattan and New Jersey rather than creating a bridge.
If this project was built today using the modern construction methods, air compression method for keeping the tunnels safe and secure would never be used. It is far too dangerous to use gas or air as a way to keep out a liquid medium such as water. The use of brick lining as a means to support a tunnel would also not be used. Today's tunnels construction techniques employ the use of steel plating and concrete to keep the tunnel integrity intact. The tunnels that are bored today are usually constructed out of iron sheet and they are huge tunnel boring machines (TBM) that bore through the earth and have a conveyor system that allows them to remove the mud and the rock as they bore through. These tunnel boring machines or TBM for short are used in the creation of tunnels especially in urban areas. The reasoning behind using them in urban areas is that they provide minimum disturbance and is less of a chance of the tunnel collapsing due to use instead of the standard approach of using dynamite and boring a hole through the earth. Therefore a project in Iran area such as the Hudson and Manhattan project would have used by TBM to bore through the Hudson River.
The use of advanced computer technology also helps in the creation of tunnels nowadays. Before any work is started, the soil density rock formation and the water index tables are calculated to get an idea of the equipment and methods required to create a tunnel. The goal is to create a tunnel that is safe, secure and durable. In the case of the Manhattan and Hudson River tunnel, there was a limited amount of research and planning done on how to create a tunnel of this magnitude. In today's environment this would not be acceptable.
Before any work is started, months of due diligence are performed to make sure that the tunnel be safe and secure at the same time the project be completed on time. They would also be different methods to figure out if the tunnel that would be created be able to withstand quakes and other tectonic shifts that occur in the area. The use of TBM's is especially common in large-scale projects. This is because TBMs are far more efficient in creating tunnels than the standard method of using dynamite. TBMs create a tunnel behind which the workers then follow these machines and provide necessary scaffolding to hold the tunnel in place. At the same time geologists, structural engineers and architects design the tunnel and figure out the most economical, safest and easy way to bore through the earth. Id computers play a big part in the design and development of these tunnels so that all problems that are encountered are usually foreseen.
The Hudson and Manhattan tunnel boring project was unique in the sense that not many projects of that magnitude had been ever attempted. As a result, the engineers were pioneers were using technology that was way behind in sophistication and in what they were trying to achieve. This is one of the primary reasons that the tunneling project was behind schedule and ran over budget. The engineers were visionaries but at the same time they were working with limited technology. In the case of the Manhattan and Hudson tunnel boring project, in the techniques used there was a lot of experience gained on how these tunnels were built which help facilitate the creation of tunnels even today.
During the construction of tunnels today, computer aided modeling technology and global positioning systems or GPS allow these tunnel boring machine to be guided and are therefore very precise and how they bore through the earth. The use of dynamite and other explosives to clear the way for these machines is also limited. This provides a safer work environment because there is less danger of the tunnel falling due to a disturbance caused by an explosion.
If a tunnel like this was built today they would be funding lined up at the beginning of the project which would ensure that the project would bring to completion. At the same time, the technologies and experiences that were learned in previous tunnel boring project would be used to figure out how best to construct a tunnel of this magnitude and size. When this tunnel was being constructed, subway trains were also a technology that was evolving. The technology that is used in the subways today allows for a more streamlined and lighter vehicle and also a smaller vehicle and a compact vehicle which would definitely decrease the size of a tunnel considerably.
A tunnel like this it was built today would take less time to be created and at the same time would be much more stronger and reliable. That's not to say that the Hudson and Manhattan tunnel is not an industrial and construction feat in its own sense. But at the same time, the tunnels today are created of materials which last longer and are more durable and are cheaper to construct than the materials used in the Hudson Manhattan tunnel. The engineers who were involved in the construction of the Hudson Manhattan tunnel were pushing the envelope when it came to the use of technology which was not well understood and at the same time were risking the lives of workers and their own. Their courage is commendable. At the same time, if they were not able to push forward and create such a tunnel, we would not have the required technology and knowledge and experience to really create these tunnels in today's world. We owe them and a lot of gratitude and debt for trying something new and persisting.
The century-old Manhattan and Hudson tunnel system still stands today as a testament to the innovation that these engineers had. The tunnel was finally completed after 33 years. Service commenced between the Hoboken and 19th St. in Manhattan on the night of February 26, 1908. The cost of the entire project in today's dollars would equal $1 billion. Every day thousands of riders in these cars are able to traverse under the Hudson River oblivious to the determination and persistence it took to create these tunnels which lie under the Hudson River. Currently, the Port Authority trans-Hudson system is responsible for the upkeep of this tunnel along with an extensive railroad system that is about 14 miles long and connects most of New York and New Jersey via 13 stations and allows for the movement of 200,000 passengers in a day. It provides transit point for millions of people were both local and tourists and is a vital transportation hub across New York and New Jersey.
To this day, the Manhattan and Hudson tunnels stand as they were constructed. There have been minor repairs and upgrades to the tunnel system. Also the trains that were used to carry passengers have advanced and involved and now use electricity as a primary means of locomotion. However, the tunnels are still standing and are expected to last for decades to come. Public works projects such as the construction of the Manhattan Hudson tunnels are still going on in the United States yet the complexity and scale of this project makes it a landmark project. In recognition of the innovation and the landmark status of the Manhattan Hudson tunnels they have been declared national historic civil engineering landmarks in 1978 by the American Society of civil engineers. As a means to power these tracks the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad powerhouse was built in 1906 and powered the trains. This powerhouse was then stopped and decommissioned in 1929 where was found that it was cheaper to buy electricity than to produce it in that area.
In this research paper I have attempted to give you a brief synopsis of the construction, design and problems that were encountered in the creation on the Hudson Manhattan Railroad tunnels. This paper also reflects on the dynamics that were in place during the era of the 19th century Industrial Revolution and how it impacted the construction of these tunnels. After talking about the various complications and difficulties that were encountered during the commission of this project, it was also examined how these tunnels would be created in a modern-day scenario. While the signs off tunnel boring and the techniques applied are evolving continuously it can be safely said that the pioneers are the ones who are responsible for the efficiency and safety of these operations. Continued knowledge gained from these early innovators helped to further our understanding of the methods and equipment required in successful tunnel boring.