Omaha daily bee., April 27, 1902, Image 29

About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922

Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

                
Work on the Great New York Subway
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'iipyriwht. liy Hirlurt Vall:ue.
IMAGINE a tunml fix fct hinh and
llirt'H fret wiilc from New York
to Chit'iiKi) nnil yim have some
concept inn of tin- cubical con
tents of tin' New York rnibway
when completeil. Now inuiRiiie thai from
New York to Clevelainl there was sol ill
rock, that for a cdusiileralilu disiance a
hA'r'n-nrt' JH.'LA....
KXCAVATION IN I 'Kit Kl.KVATKH KOAIi AT SI XT Y II 1 Tl I A N 1 1 lllli I A I V Y .
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street car service hail tn he maintained un
impaired aliove the iliMKiiiB toilers and that
water mains, as iies ami fi'WQKii had to
he moved whemver the path of the tunnel
Intercepted them, and you may realize what
a tremendous eiiRinei riiiR task is being
pushed forward now in New Y'ork City
months ahead of contract time.
The comparison is not quite accurate, but
it serves l purpose of culling attention to
the mint Klianti ' piece of engineering In
modern times. Three million cubic yards
of space underneath a teeminj? city are to
make room for a $:t'i .000.000 railway. Plxty
flve thousands tons of steel will he used in
the arches, pillars and rails. Ten thou
sand men will have been enKaneil f0r nearly
four years in bringing thie marvel about.
All this is to the end that the New Yorker
ami the visiting stranger may be whisked
from one extremity of Manhattan island to
the other in a hurry.
At the present time millions of feet of
lumber are being used to maintain undis
turbed the street surface with its ceaseless
trallic going on above the excavations. If
this timber had In ell used in building homos
fur the army of M.OuO workmen employed
there would have been sulllcient for a two
story frame house for every man. The
l!,aUU,000 tons of rock which are to be taken
out would make a solid wall three feet
thick, six feet high and nearly 500 miles
long, and if the dirt were spread over Cen
tral park the entire area would be covered
ten Inches deep. As a matter of fact, acres
and acres of New Jersey swamp land are
being made habitable since the Hapid Tran
sit commission began to dispose of the sur
plus dirt and rock upon them.
It is a veritable city under a city which
the engineers and contractors are building,
a city of one street, to be sure, now with
two roadways, now with four, but it is an
electrically lighted, clean, well ventilated
avenue of travel, and millions of passengers
will be carried over it every year.
SlruiiHt' MetroMilitHii Muliln.
Those who wish to nee strange sights in
the metropolis can find more variety in a
trip along the line of the subway In its
present state than in any other excursion
In Manhattan. New Yorkers have not yet
accustomed themselves to the upheaval of
streets, the jacked-up street iar lines, tho
swinging cranes and the cable ways on
which tonloads are carried at a tin e. Now
and then the pedestrian is confronted by a
workiugman who waves a red flag and cries
out: "i'-lre!" and the pedestrian knows
that an explosion is Imminent. Crowds
watch daily the operation of the com
pressed air drills which bore Into the solid
rick; at times the monotony of living In
the neighbi rluxid is disturbed by the thun
der of a blast, passrngers In nearby street
cars feci their huts lifted slightly from
their heads. They remark, "Only the sub
way," and wonder when all the confusion
and muss will be over.
Down below, on the damp, sunless bottom
of the many openings, the real state of the
j. "& w
(ubway may best be seen, provided one
fortunate enough to secure permission to
explore the cuts and headings. At City
Hall square, the lower terminus, fully Iwo
i birds of the work has been done. One sec
lion of the loop Is already coven d over, nnd
the Moors, arches and entrances of the sta
tion are now bring completed. The City
Hall station Is to be a local train station
only. Originally a gieat loop was planned
here, which was to circle ti part of the
postolllce and furnish room fur the main
station, and it was understood that nil the
(iiiins, both express and local, should pans
this way. The task, however, was Ion illlll
cult. It was not possible to pius umli r tha
postotllco building without weakening that
structure, and the plan to tunnel to Ilrook
lyn also made it advisable to locate the
i.iaiu station at the bridge. Aciordlngly
Mr. William llarclay Parsons, the chief en
gineer, planned a smaller loop ami a local
train station which has aroused I hi- admira
tion of all the engineers. There Is not a
straight Hue at this terminus. The station
Is a curved platform, the roof Is a scries of
domes ami arches within arches. The
change In the loop made necessary a
switchyard for trains, and this was tun
neled out under Park How.
only a short distance up from tlie loop
Is the main station. That is In say, the
main stallon will be located here, close by
the New York end of the llrooklyn bridge.
It Is one of the last pieces of work to be
taken up. On both Bides of the locality
work has been going on for nearly two
years, but, owing to the continual crowds
in this neighborhood, It bus seeini-il best
to complete one part In fore beginning an
other. Mine In I lie lllu III).
Kroin the bridge station the four tracks
will extend In practically a straight line
to Forty-second street, theme over to
ltroadway nnd up Ilrondway lo One Hun
dred and Fourth street. From I his point
there are two branches, one extending up
or near ltroadway to Two Hundred and
Fifteenth street, the other cutting through
n corner of Central park, under the ll nli-in
river, and up into the suburbs ns far an
1 1 iDii X park. Over this line all kinds ol
operations are being carried on, from tin
(Continued on Klghlh Page.)
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UENEKAL VIEW AT THIUTY-FOL'KTIl AND PAKK AVEM E Ill'KNEI) AKMOllY IN KKHIT F( lit EO ItOl'NI).
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"cv ST
062
SCENE AT UKOAUWAY A NO SIXTV-N ixth. SHOWING NEW ANSON1A HOT El
ONE Ill'NUHEO AND FIFTY-NINTH STREET AND BROADWAY. LOOKINQ NOHTH INTO HOCK HEADlNti.