Industrial History: 1910 Amtrak/Pennsy North (Hudson) River Tunnel

Saturday, December 18, 2021

1910 Amtrak/Pennsy North (Hudson) River Tunnel

(Satellite, west portal)

The completion date and correct name for the title were found here.

safe_image for Clock is ticking for 110-year-old Hudson River rail tunnel
Superstorm Sandy flooded the tunnel with saltwater in 2012.

I learned about the Gateway Project for rebuilding rail access to Manhattan from when I studied the replacement of the Portal Bridge. By delaying the construction of a new tunnel, we (taxpayers) now need to pay for repairs on the old tunnel as well as building a new tunnel.

Trump remembered his campaign promise concerning a wall at the Mexico border but forgot his promise about fixing our infrastructer. I wish it had been the other way around.

I was aware that there was a funding issue. I was not aware that the US Army Corps of Engineers was delaying an approval.

safe_image for Project to fix critical Northeast Corridor choke point gets go-ahead

8:11 video: since 2014, needed repairs have caused 65,000 minutes (45 days) of delays (commuter cancellations) and 20% of the nations GDP gets put on hold. The new tunnels are expected to take 7 years to build, and then fixing the existing tunnels would be another 3 years.

The Gateway Project:

Screenshot @ 3:12
(Portal North Bridge)

What may have been.

Fred Hadley posted

The new bridge over the Hudson River New York in 1896

We present a perspective view of the proposed New York and New Jersey railroad bridge across the Hudson River. It shows also the New York approaches and the location of the grand terminal station. The station will be at the corner of Eighth Avenue, Forty-ninth and Fifty-first Streets.

The six track viaduct will run thence west to the block in Fiftieth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. There, by a broad curve, the viaduct will sweep northward., constantly rising at a grade of thirty-five feet to the mile.

The structure will curve to the westward again at Fifty-eighth Street, and at Fifty-ninth Street and Twelfth Avenue it will reach the end of the bridge structure proper.

The imposing proportions of the bridge and the beauty of its designs are shown in the illustration, and, when we study its dimensions in detail, it is perhaps safe to say that it will be the greatest engineering work ever attempted. This can best be understood by reference to the present Brooklyn Bridge. The main span of the new bridge will be more than twice the length and its towers fully twice the height of those

of the Brooklvn Bridge.

It was originally proposed to erect a bridge of the cantilever system, with a river span of 2,000 feet. This would have necessitated a tower 1,000 feet out in midstream, and, as the War Office requirements demanded that the river navigation should be unobstructed, it was determined by the company to attempt the bridging of the Hudson River by a mammoth suspension bridge, with a great central span of 3254 feet.

There will be six railroad tracks, and the bridge is to be strong enough to carry all the tracks loaded with trains from end to end, or a total live load of about 30,000 tons.

It is estimated that the bridge itself will cost $25 million and the cost of the whole, bridge, approaches and terminal works, will be about $60 million. Should there be no legal or other obstructions, it is estimated that the work can be completed in eight years.

The design illustrated was made by the Union Bridge Company, of New York City. Like other Hudson crossing proposals, this one was never built.

Scientific American excerpt and engraving, May 2, 1896

2022 Update: It looks like the route of the new Hudson River Tunnel has changed since 2014. The cost is now estimated at $11.6b. I have seen some headlines that indicate funding has finally been approved.