130-862: The Downtown Hudson Tubes (formerly the Cortlandt Street Tunnel ) are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River in the United States , between New York City to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey , to the west. The tunnels run between the World Trade Center station on the New York side and the Exchange Place station on the New Jersey side. PATH operates two services through
260-542: A bomb on board a PATH train, it was very difficult to get sufficient explosives into the tunnel to accomplish the plan. If the tunnel were to explode and allow water from the Hudson River to flood it, Lower Manhattan would be spared since the area is 2–10 feet (0.61–3.05 m) above sea level. Of the eight planners based in six different countries, three were arrested. The Downtown Hudson Tubes were severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy . To accommodate repairs, service on
390-717: A combined 70,000 square feet (6,500 m ). According to the Engineering Record , the Fulton Building occupied a lot measuring about 156 by 154 feet (48 by 47 m), while the Cortlandt Building occupied a lot measuring about 213 by 170 feet (65 by 52 m). However, the New-York Tribune gave slightly different measurements of 155.9 by 179.8 feet (48 by 55 m) for the Fulton Building and 214.35 by 186.3 feet (65 by 57 m) for
520-441: A day. This included 17 passenger elevators and a freight elevator in the Fulton Building, and 21 elevators in the Cortlandt Building. Of the 39 elevators in the buildings, 22 ran nonstop from the lobby to the eleventh floor while the remainder served every floor below the eleventh. Three of the elevators continued to the underground concourse, although the elevators did not descend to the concourse except during emergencies. With
650-449: A large factor in the decision making process. Civil engineers usually use project management techniques for developing a major structure. Understanding the amount of time the project requires, and the amount of labor and materials needed is a crucial part of project planning. The project duration must be identified using a work breakdown structure and critical path method . Also, the land needed for excavation and construction staging, and
780-575: A live load of 105 psf (5.0 kPa), for 200 psf (9.6 kPa) total, while the Cortlandt Building could carry a dead load of 85 psf (4.1 kPa) and a live load of 75 psf (3.6 kPa), for 160 psf (7.7 kPa) total. The columns were allowed to take a minimum stress of 11,500 psi (79,000 kPa) and a maximum stress of 13,000 psi (90,000 kPa). The floors were generally made of reinforced concrete slabs placed between I-beams , with cinder concrete fill and yellow-pine finish. Terracotta tile, brick, and concrete
910-620: A new PATH station to replace the Hudson Terminal station, as well as a public plaza to replace the buildings. Groundbreaking on the World Trade Center took place in 1966, and as with the Hudson Terminal buildings, a slurry wall to keep out water from the Hudson River. During excavation of the site and construction of the towers, the Downtown Tubes remained in service, with excavations continuing around and below
1040-523: A pedestrian bridge over the street on the third story of each building. A bridge connecting the buildings' 17th floors was approved and built in 1913, soon after the complex had opened. As completed, the buildings used 16.3 million bricks, 13,000 lighting fixtures, 15,200 doors, 5,000 windows, and 4,500 short tons (4,000 long tons; 4,100 t) of terracotta, as well as 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m ) of partitions and 1,100,000 cubic feet (31,000 m ) of concrete floor arches. Also included in
1170-467: A pipe jack, with the span of some box jacks in excess of 20 metres (66 ft). A cutting head is normally used at the front of the box being jacked, and spoil removal is normally by excavator from within the box. Recent developments of the Jacked Arch and Jacked deck have enabled longer and larger structures to be installed to close accuracy. There are also several approaches to underwater tunnels,
1300-421: A specialized method called clay-kicking for digging tunnels in clay-based soils. The clay-kicker lies on a plank at a 45-degree angle away from the working face and rather than a mattock with his hands, inserts with his feet a tool with a cup-like rounded end, then turns the tool with his hands to extract a section of soil, which is then placed on the waste extract. Clay-kicking is a specialized method developed in
1430-636: A third of the total space in the buildings. The top floors of each building had private dining clubs: the Downtown Millionaires Club atop the Cortlandt Building and the Machinery Club atop the Fulton Building. With the exception of a brief period between 1922 and 1923, the terminal's post office operated until the United States Postal Annex at 90 Church Street opened two blocks north in 1937. Space in
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#17327649117521560-509: A total rentable floor space of 877,900 square feet (81,560 m ), some of which was taken by the H&;M Railroad, the Fulton and Cortlandt Buildings were collectively billed as the largest office building in the world by floor area. Each building contained 44,000 square feet (4,100 m ) of office space on each floor; the Fulton Building had 18,000 square feet (1,700 m ) per floor and
1690-482: A train passed through the tunnel, it pushed out the air in front of it toward the closest ventilation shaft, and also pulled air into the rail tunnel from the closest ventilation shaft behind it. The Hudson Terminal station also used fans to accelerate the movement of air. When the Hudson Terminal buildings opened, direct transfers were available to the IRT's Sixth Avenue elevated at Cortlandt and Church Streets , and to
1820-434: A tube can be sunk into a body of water, which is called an immersed tunnel. Cut-and-cover is a simple method of construction for shallow tunnels where a trench is excavated and roofed over with an overhead support system strong enough to carry the load of what is to be built above the tunnel. There are two basic forms of cut-and-cover tunnelling: Shallow tunnels are often of the cut-and-cover type (if under water, of
1950-747: A tunnel than a sufficiently strong bridge). Some water crossings are a mixture of bridges and tunnels, such as the Denmark to Sweden link and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia . There are particular hazards with tunnels, especially from vehicle fires when combustion gases can asphyxiate users, as happened at the Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland in 2001. One of the worst railway disasters ever,
2080-432: A tunnel. Bridges usually require a larger footprint on each shore than tunnels. In areas with expensive real estate, such as Manhattan and urban Hong Kong , this is a strong factor in favor of a tunnel. Boston's Big Dig project replaced elevated roadways with a tunnel system to increase traffic capacity, hide traffic, reclaim land, redecorate, and reunite the city with the waterfront. The 1934 Queensway Tunnel under
2210-606: Is allowed in this tunnel tube, and motorcyclists are directed to the other tube. Each level was built with a three-lane roadway, but only two lanes per level are used – the third serves as a hard shoulder within the tunnel. The A86 Duplex is Europe's longest double-deck tunnel. Hudson Terminal The Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City . Opened during 1908 and 1909, it
2340-505: Is intended to carry both the Istanbul metro and a two-level highway, over a length of 6.5 km (4.0 miles). The French A86 Duplex Tunnel [ fr ] in west Paris consists of two bored tunnel tubes, the eastern one of which has two levels for light motorized vehicles, over a length of 10 km (6.2 miles). Although each level offers a physical height of 2.54 m (8.3 ft), only traffic up to 2 m (6.6 ft) tall
2470-563: Is now the 34th Street–Herald Square station on the New York City Subway. If this extension had been built, it would have tripled the maximum number of trains that could go into the Hudson Terminal station. The sections of tunnel around the Hudson Terminal station were taken out of regular service when the World Trade Center station was built about 450 feet (140 m) to the west. The World Trade Center station could fit ten-car trains, and sat underneath Greenwich Street, which
2600-494: Is relatively long and narrow; the length is often much greater than twice the diameter , although similar shorter excavations can be constructed, such as cross passages between tunnels. The definition of what constitutes a tunnel can vary widely from source to source. For example, in the United Kingdom, a road tunnel is defined as "a subsurface highway structure enclosed for a length of 150 metres (490 ft) or more." In
2730-401: Is sometimes necessary during the excavation of a tunnel. They are usually circular and go straight down until they reach the level at which the tunnel is going to be built. A shaft normally has concrete walls and is usually built to be permanent. Once the access shafts are complete, TBMs are lowered to the bottom and excavation can start. Shafts are the main entrance in and out of the tunnel until
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#17327649117522860-515: Is that the open building pit is muted after tunnel construction; no roof is placed. Some tunnels are double-deck, for example, the two major segments of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (completed in 1936) are linked by a 160-metre (540 ft) double-deck tunnel section through Yerba Buena Island , the largest-diameter bored tunnel in the world. At construction this was a combination bidirectional rail and truck pathway on
2990-698: Is the Siloam Tunnel , built in Jerusalem by the kings of Judah around the 8th century BC. Another tunnel excavated from both ends, maybe the second known, is the Tunnel of Eupalinos , which is a tunnel aqueduct 1,036 m (3,400 ft) long running through Mount Kastro in Samos , Greece. It was built in the 6th century BC to serve as an aqueduct . In Ethiopia , the Siqurto foot tunnel , hand-hewn in
3120-569: The Balvano train disaster , was caused by a train stalling in the Armi tunnel in Italy in 1944, killing 426 passengers. Designers try to reduce these risks by installing emergency ventilation systems or isolated emergency escape tunnels parallel to the main passage. Government funds are often required for the creation of tunnels. When a tunnel is being planned or constructed, economics and politics play
3250-505: The Brooklyn Bridge and other congested areas to determine the design of the station's ramps and staircases. There were six stairs from each alighting platform and four stairs to each boarding platform. Except at the platforms' extreme ends, the platforms contained straight edges to minimize the gap between train and platform. The straight section of each platform was 350 feet (110 m) long. Other stations on loops—including
3380-700: The City Hall and South Ferry stations of the New York City Subway , built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)—contained curved platforms, whose gaps between platform and train posed a great liability to passenger safety. Illuminated departure signs on each platform displayed the destinations of the trains on each track. The station was lit by incandescent lamps throughout. The station tunnels contained provisions for an unbuilt extension northward to what
3510-780: The Downtown Hudson Tubes , under the Hudson River , to the west. The two 22-story office skyscrapers above the terminal, the Fulton Building to the north and the Cortlandt Building to the south, were designed by architect James Hollis Wells of the firm Clinton and Russell in the Romanesque Revival style. The basements contained facilities such as a shopping concourse, an electrical substation , and baggage areas. The complex could accommodate 687,000 people per day, more than Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan . The buildings opened first, being
3640-700: The Exchange Place station, in Jersey City, and Hudson Terminal, at the corner of Church and Cortlandt Streets in Lower Manhattan . The company already had a capital of $ 21 million at the time of its incorporation. Work on the underwater section of the Downtown Tubes started in April 1905. That June, the New York State Board of Commissioners approved of the layout for the Downtown Tubes' Manhattan end. The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company
3770-787: The Ninth Avenue elevated at Cortlandt and Greenwich Streets . The connection to the Sixth Avenue Line station, opened in September 1908, was via an elevated passageway from the third floor of the Cortlandt Building. In 1932, the Independent Subway System opened the Hudson Terminal station on its Eighth Avenue Line , though the IND station was operationally separate from the H&M station. Though
3900-616: The PATH train cars that were trapped underground when the towers collapsed. On July 7, 2006, an alleged plot to detonate explosives in the PATH's Downtown Hudson Tubes (initially said to be a plot to bomb the Holland Tunnel ) was uncovered by the FBI . The plot included the detonation of a bomb that could significantly destroy and flood the tunnels, endangering all the occupants and vehicles in
4030-471: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was not aware of this bill and had not asked for a grant for such a project. Increased taxes to finance a large project may cause opposition. Tunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock. The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground conditions, the groundwater conditions, the length and diameter of
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4160-848: The Queens-Midtown Tunnel between Manhattan and the borough of Queens on Long Island ; the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel between Michigan and Ontario ; and the Elizabeth River tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia ; the 1934 River Mersey road Queensway Tunnel ; the Western Scheldt Tunnel , Zeeland, Netherlands; and the North Shore Connector tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . The Sydney Harbour Tunnel
4290-472: The River Mersey at Liverpool was chosen over a massively high bridge partly for defense reasons; it was feared that aircraft could destroy a bridge in times of war, not merely impairing road traffic but blocking the river to navigation. Maintenance costs of a massive bridge to allow the world's largest ships to navigate under were considered higher than for a tunnel. Similar conclusions were reached for
4420-679: The United Kingdom of digging tunnels in strong clay-based soil structures. This method of cut and cover construction required relatively little disturbance of property during the renewal of the United Kingdom's then ancient sewerage systems. It was also used during the First World War by Royal Engineer tunnelling companies placing mines beneath German lines, because it was almost silent and so not susceptible to listening methods of detection. Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and associated back-up systems are used to highly automate
4550-511: The Uptown Hudson Tubes , a tunnel between Jersey City, New Jersey , and Midtown Manhattan , New York City, that had been under construction intermittently since 1874. The Hudson Companies would also build the Downtown Hudson Tubes , which included a station in Jersey City's Exchange Place neighborhood, as well as a terminal station and a pair of office buildings in Lower Manhattan , which would become Hudson Terminal. Following
4680-540: The World Trade Center , and the railroad station closed in 1971, being replaced by PATH's World Trade Center station . While the buildings were demolished in 1972, the last remnants of the station were removed in the 2000s as part of the development of the new World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks in 2001. In January 1905, the Hudson Companies was incorporated for the purpose of completing
4810-610: The canton of Glarus . The borehole has a diameter of 8.03 metres (26.3 ft). The four TBMs used for excavating the 57-kilometre (35 mi) Gotthard Base Tunnel , in Switzerland , had a diameter of about 9 metres (30 ft). A larger TBM was built to bore the Green Heart Tunnel (Dutch: Tunnel Groene Hart) as part of the HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands, with a diameter of 14.87 metres (48.8 ft). This in turn
4940-489: The water table . This pressurizes the ground ahead of the TBM cutter head to balance the water pressure. The operators work in normal air pressure behind the pressurized compartment, but may occasionally have to enter that compartment to renew or repair the cutters. This requires special precautions, such as local ground treatment or halting the TBM at a position free from water. Despite these difficulties, TBMs are now preferred over
5070-689: The 16th century as a metaphor for a narrow, confined space like the inside of a cask. Some of the earliest tunnels used by humans were paleoburrows excavated by prehistoric mammals. Much of the early technology of tunneling evolved from mining and military engineering . The etymology of the terms "mining" (for mineral extraction or for siege attacks ), " military engineering ", and " civil engineering " reveals these deep historic connections. Predecessors of modern tunnels were adits that transported water for irrigation , drinking, or sewerage . The first qanats are known from before 2000 BC. The earliest tunnel known to have been excavated from both ends
5200-638: The 1960s. The main idea of this method is to use the geological stress of the surrounding rock mass to stabilize the tunnel, by allowing a measured relaxation and stress reassignment into the surrounding rock to prevent full loads becoming imposed on the supports. Based on geotechnical measurements, an optimal cross section is computed. The excavation is protected by a layer of sprayed concrete, commonly referred to as shotcrete . Other support measures can include steel arches, rock bolts, and mesh. Technological developments in sprayed concrete technology have resulted in steel and polypropylene fibers being added to
5330-591: The 1971 Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey. In Hampton Roads, Virginia , tunnels were chosen over bridges for strategic considerations; in the event of damage, bridges might prevent US Navy vessels from leaving Naval Station Norfolk . Water-crossing tunnels built instead of bridges include the Seikan Tunnel in Japan; the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City ;
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5460-482: The Church Street Terminal. The buildings were separated by Dey Street , since the city government would not allow the street to be closed and eliminated. The Hudson Terminal buildings, along with 49 Chambers , were the city's first skyscrapers to include an H-shaped floor plan, with interior "light courts" to provide illumination to interior offices. The buildings' land lots originally occupied
5590-508: The Church Street side of both buildings, rising to 304 feet (93 m). The designs for the buildings' facades called for Indiana limestone cladding below the fifth-floor cornice , and brick and terracotta above. The original proposal included rows of triple-height Doric columns supporting the roof cornice. As built, the lowest four stories of each building were made of polished granite and limestone; each ground level bay
5720-434: The Cortlandt Building 26,000 square feet (2,400 m ) per floor. The towers could house a combined ten thousand tenants across 4,000 offices. At ground level, the buildings contained glass-enclosed shopping arcades that were "much larger than the famous European arcades". There were three stories of basements beneath the office buildings. The first basement level was a shopping and waiting concourse directly below
5850-436: The Cortlandt Building. By the mid-20th century, annexes had been added to both buildings, giving them a combined lot area of 85,802 square feet (7,971.3 m ). The two buildings were otherwise designed similarly. The first through third stories of both buildings were parallelogram in plan, while the buildings contained H-shaped floor plans above the third story. The light courts of both buildings faced north and south, while
5980-667: The Downtown Hudson Tubes, so that the PRR's New York Penn Station could be used solely for non-terminating trains. However, McAdoo denied these rumors, saying, "the Pennsylvania has not one dollar's interest" in such a venture. In January 1905, the Hudson Companies was incorporated for the purpose of completing the Uptown Hudson Tubes. The Hudson Companies would also build a pair of downtown tunnels between
6110-408: The Downtown Tubes, Newark–World Trade Center and Hoboken–World Trade Center . The former normally operates 24/7, while the latter only operates on weekdays. The Downtown Hudson Tubes use a roughly east-southeast to west-northwest path under the Hudson River, connecting Manhattan in the east with Jersey City in the west. Each track is located in its own tube, which enables better ventilation by
6240-483: The Fulton Building while the southern office building was called the Cortlandt Building, reflecting the streets that they abutted. The H&M terminal opened on July 19, 1909, along with the Downtown Tubes. The combined rail terminal and office block was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The space in the office buildings was in high demand, and the offices were almost fully rented by 1911. The following year, McAdoo denied rumors that H&M would acquire
6370-571: The Hudson Terminal station was a cast-iron tube embedded in the original World Trade Center's foundation near Church Street. The tube was above the level of the PATH station and the station's replacement after the September 11 attacks. The cast-iron tube was removed in 2008 during the construction of the new World Trade Center . The terminal served H&M trains as well as those of the Pennsylvania Railroad , which interoperated on H&M trackage. The railroad terminal's construction
6500-518: The Hudson Terminal station was arranged as a balloon loop connecting both of the Downtown Tubes. Trains entered from the south and exited from the north. The station ran perpendicularly to both of the Downtown Tubes, and at either end of the station, there were sharp curves to and from each tube, with track radii of 90 feet (27 m). The eastbound tunnel ran under Cortlandt Street and the westbound tunnel ran two blocks north under Fulton Street. The station had been built with five tracks because, at
6630-409: The Hudson Terminal station's platform level were 48 inches (1,200 mm) deep with flanges 16 inches (410 mm) wide. The floor of this level was a Portland concrete slab 36 inches (910 mm) thick. The platforms contained columns at intervals of about every 20 feet (6.1 m). Some of the girders in the substructure were spaced irregularly because of the placement of the railroad platforms at
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#17327649117526760-537: The IND had also planned for a passageway between its Chambers Street station and the H&M's terminal in the original plan for the Eighth Avenue Line, a direct passageway to the Chambers Street station was not opened until 1949. Hudson Terminal included two 22-story Romanesque-style office skyscrapers above the H&M station. The buildings were designed by architect James Hollis Wells, of
6890-709: The Middle Ages, crosses a mountain ridge. In the Gaza Strip , the network of tunnels was used by Jewish strategists as rock-cut shelters, in first links to Judean resistance against Roman rule in the Bar Kokhba revolt during the 2nd century AD. A major tunnel project must start with a comprehensive investigation of ground conditions by collecting samples from boreholes and by other geophysical techniques. An informed choice can then be made of machinery and methods for excavation and ground support, which will reduce
7020-532: The Newark–World Trade Center line between Exchange Place and World Trade Center was suspended during almost all weekends in 2019 and 2020, except for holidays. Tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ventilation openings at various points along
7150-599: The United States, the NFPA definition of a tunnel is "An underground structure with a design length greater than 23 m (75 ft) and a diameter greater than 1,800 millimetres (5.9 ft)." The word "tunnel" comes from the Middle English tonnelle , meaning "a net", derived from Old French tonnel , a diminutive of tonne ("cask"). The modern meaning, referring to an underground passageway, evolved in
7280-538: The announcement of the Downtown Tubes, the rate of real estate purchases increased around Hudson Terminal's future location. The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company was incorporated in December 1906 to operate the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), a passenger railroad system headed by William Gibbs McAdoo , which would use the tubes. The system connected Hoboken , Pavonia , and Exchange Place , three of
7410-490: The area had to be at least 20 feet (6.1 m) below any north–south street. Four cement ramps, two each from Cortlandt and Fulton Streets, descended to the first basement level. The floor surface of each ramp is made of a compound of cement and carborundum . The original plans had called for one ramp each from Cortlandt and Fulton Streets and two from Dey Street, but the engineers deemed this to be impractical. There were also two bluestone staircases from Dey Street. At
7540-400: The blocky nature of rocks, the exact location of fault zones, or the stand-up times of softer ground. This may be a particular concern in large-diameter tunnels. To give more information, a pilot tunnel (or "drift tunnel") may be driven ahead of the main excavation. This smaller tunnel is less likely to collapse catastrophically should unexpected conditions be met, and it can be incorporated into
7670-424: The buildings was also occupied by agencies of the United States federal government in the 1960s. H&M ridership declined substantially from a high of 113 million riders in 1927 to 26 million in 1958, after new automobile tunnels and bridges opened across the Hudson River. The H&M had gone bankrupt in 1954. The state of New Jersey wanted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to take over
7800-427: The buildings were many miles of plumbing, steam piping, wood base, picture molding, conduits, and electrical wiring. The superstructure of the Hudson Terminal buildings required over 28,000 short tons (25,000 long tons; 25,000 t) of steel, manufactured by the American Bridge Company . The superstructure of the Fulton Building was intended to carry a dead load of 95 pounds per square foot (4.5 kPa ) and
7930-418: The complex on the East River , on the opposite side of Lower Manhattan from Hudson Terminal. As an interstate agency, the Port Authority required approval for its projects from both New Jersey's and New York's state governments, but the New Jersey government objected that the proposed trade center would mostly benefit New York. In late 1961, Port Authority executive director Austin J. Tobin proposed shifting
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#17327649117528060-451: The complex's foundation . The foundation used irregular framing because of the presence of the tracks on the second basement level, and the cofferdam was said to be five times larger than any other similar structure previously constructed. The perimeter of the foundation was excavated using 51 pneumatic caissons , drilled to depths of between 75 and 98 feet (23 and 30 m), with an average depth of 80 feet (24 m). This required
8190-451: The concrete mix to improve lining strength. This creates a natural load-bearing ring, which minimizes the rock's deformation . By special monitoring the NATM method is flexible, even at surprising changes of the geomechanical rock consistency during the tunneling work. The measured rock properties lead to appropriate tools for tunnel strengthening . In pipe jacking , hydraulic jacks are used to push specially made pipes through
8320-416: The downtown tunnels was devised by another company in 1903, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation (H&M). However, William Gibbs McAdoo 's New York and Jersey Railroad Company, which was constructing the Uptown Tubes, was interested in the H&M tunnel. Early in the planning process, there were elaborate reports that the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was interested in operating its trains through
8450-511: The east, and Fulton Street to the north. Some low-rise buildings on Cortlandt Street were acquired to protect the views from the Hudson Terminal buildings. One landowner—the Wendel family, which owned a myriad of Manhattan properties—refused to sell their property, assessed at $ 75,000 (equivalent to $ 1,972,097 in 2023 ), and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against H&M in which they spent $ 20,000 (equivalent to $ 525,892 in 2023 ) on legal fees. By May 1906, H&M had taken title to most of
8580-538: The end of each ramp or staircase, Karl Bitter designed a large clock face, and there was also a steel and glass marquee protruding onto the sidewalk. According to Landau and Condit, "At full capacity, the Hudson Terminal could accommodate 687,000 people per day; in comparison, Pennsylvania Station (1902–1910) was designed with a capacity of 500,000." The concourse, on the first basement level, contained ticket offices, waiting rooms, and some retail shops. It measured 430 by 185 feet (131 by 56 m), much of which
8710-409: The entire tunnelling process, reducing tunnelling costs. In certain predominantly urban applications, tunnel boring is viewed as a quick and cost-effective alternative to laying surface rails and roads. Expensive compulsory purchase of buildings and land, with potentially lengthy planning inquiries, is eliminated. Disadvantages of TBMs arise from their usually large size – the difficulty of transporting
8840-441: The final tunnel or used as a backup or emergency escape passage. Alternatively, horizontal boreholes may sometimes be drilled ahead of the advancing tunnel face. Other key geotechnical factors: For water crossings, a tunnel is generally more costly to construct than a bridge. However, both navigational and traffic considerations may limit the use of high bridges or drawbridges intersecting with shipping channels, necessitating
8970-411: The firm Clinton and Russell , and built by construction contractor George A. Fuller . Purdy and Henderson were retained as the structural engineers. Located on what would later become the World Trade Center site , the Hudson Terminal buildings preceded the original World Trade Center complex in both size and function. When the Hudson Terminal buildings opened, the height and design of skyscrapers
9100-551: The first of the Downtown Tubes was completed in January 1909, without anyone being killed during the process. The tubes began service on July 19, 1909, with the opening of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad's Hudson Terminal in lower Manhattan. At first, service only ran to Exchange Place, for the connection to the PRR's Exchange Place station . Service was extended from Exchange Place to Hoboken Terminal on August 2, 1909; from Exchange Place to Grove Street in 1910; and finally from Grove Street to Park Place station in 1911. When
9230-459: The five major railroad terminals on the western shore of the Hudson River waterfront . At the time, there was high passenger traffic between New Jersey and Lower Manhattan. Passenger and mass-transit traffic in Jersey City was concentrated around the neighborhood of Exchange Place , while traffic in Lower Manhattan was centered south of New York City Hall . In addition, low construction costs and low property values were considerations in selecting
9360-418: The five tracks. The basements also contained a training school and break rooms for the H&M Railroad, as well as an ice-making plant, elevator hydraulic pumps, a generating plant, and a storage battery. Hudson Terminal's electrical substation consisted of two 1,500-kilowatt (2,000 hp) rotary converters for the railroad and four 750-kilowatt (1,010 hp) rotaries for the buildings. This equipment
9490-405: The ground behind a TBM or shield. This method is commonly used to create tunnels under existing structures, such as roads or railways. Tunnels constructed by pipe jacking are normally small diameter bores with a maximum size of around 3.2 metres (10 ft). Box jacking is similar to pipe jacking, but instead of jacking tubes, a box-shaped tunnel is used. Jacked boxes can be a much larger span than
9620-640: The immersed-tube type), while deep tunnels are excavated, often using a tunnelling shield . For intermediate levels, both methods are possible. Large cut-and-cover boxes are often used for underground metro stations, such as Canary Wharf tube station in London. This construction form generally has two levels, which allows economical arrangements for ticket hall, station platforms, passenger access and emergency egress, ventilation and smoke control, staff rooms, and equipment rooms. The interior of Canary Wharf station has been likened to an underground cathedral, owing to
9750-435: The inevitable smoke and steam. A major disadvantage of cut-and-cover is the widespread disruption generated at the surface level during construction. This, and the availability of electric traction, brought about London Underground's switch to bored tunnels at a deeper level towards the end of the 19th century. Prior to the replacement of manual excavation by the use of boring machines, Victorian tunnel excavators developed
9880-420: The land. The 70,000 square feet (6,500 m ) acquired for the complex had cost an average of $ 40 to $ 45 per square foot ($ 430 to $ 480/m ). The New York Times predicted that the development of Hudson Terminal would result in the relocation of many manufacturing plants from New Jersey to Lower Manhattan. Excavations at the site of the office buildings were underway by early 1907, and the first columns for
10010-468: The large TBM to the site of tunnel construction, or (alternatively) the high cost of assembling the TBM on-site, often within the confines of the tunnel being constructed. There are a variety of TBM designs that can operate in a variety of conditions, from hard rock to soft water-bearing ground. Some TBMs, the bentonite slurry and earth-pressure balance types, have pressurized compartments at the front end, allowing them to be used in difficult conditions below
10140-969: The length. A pipeline differs significantly from a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods. A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic , for rail traffic, or for a canal . The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually in the tunnel. Some tunnels are used as sewers or aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations. Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment. Secret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for smuggling of weapons , contraband , or people . Special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings , are built to allow wildlife to cross human-made barriers safely. Tunnels can be connected together in tunnel networks . A tunnel
10270-415: The location of the railroad's Lower Manhattan terminal. The H&M only searched for sites west of Broadway , since there were more transit connections and fewer existing buildings west of that street. Land acquisition for the buildings started in December 1905. The Hudson Companies acquired most of the two blocks bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Cortlandt Street to the south, Church Street to
10400-443: The low-rise buildings on Greenwich Street to expand the Hudson Terminal buildings. Upon the tubes' opening, they were also popular with New Jersey residents who wanted to travel to New York City. Passenger volume at Hudson Terminal had reached 30,535,500 annually by 1914, and within eight years, nearly doubled to 59,221,354. Several modifications were made to the complex in the years after its completion. Smaller annexes were added to
10530-629: The lower deck with automobiles above, now converted to one-way road vehicle traffic on each deck. In Turkey, the Eurasia Tunnel under the Bosphorus , opened in 2016, has at its core a 5.4 km (3.4 miles) two-deck road tunnel with two lanes on each deck. Additionally, in 2015 the Turkish government announced that it will build three -level tunnel, also under the Bosporus. The tunnel
10660-477: The main corridors of each level on both buildings extended eastward from Church Street. The Cortlandt Building's light courts measured 32 by 76 feet (9.8 by 23.2 m), while the Fulton Building's light courts were 48 by 32 feet (14.6 by 9.8 m). The wings on either side of the light courts were of asymmetrical width. The main roofs of the buildings were carried to 275.75 feet (84.05 m) above ground. Small projecting "towers" with pitched roofs rose from
10790-423: The north and south of the station, each end of the loop had a loading gauge large enough to fit one train. The cars required a clearance of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) above the tops of the rails, while the floor of the tunnel was 24 inches (610 mm) below the tops of the rails. The single tubes of the Downtown Tubes enabled better ventilation of the station by the so-called piston effect . When
10920-494: The office buildings at some point after they opened, during the early or mid-20th century. A passageway to the Independent Subway System (IND)'s Chambers Street station was opened in 1949. The passageway measured 14 feet (4.3 m) wide and 90 feet (27 m) long. Construction contractor Great Atlantic Construction Company described the tunnel as "one of the most difficult of engineering feats", as
11050-483: The older method of tunnelling in compressed air, with an airlock/decompression chamber some way back from the TBM, which required operators to work in high pressure and go through decompression procedures at the end of their shifts, much like deep-sea divers . In February 2010, Aker Wirth delivered a TBM to Switzerland, for the expansion of the Linth–Limmern Power Stations located south of Linthal in
11180-540: The operation of empty and loaded trains at the same time. The temporary way is replaced by the permanent way at completion, thus explaining the term " Perway ". The vehicles or traffic using a tunnel can outgrow it, requiring replacement or enlargement: An open building pit consists of a horizontal and a vertical boundary that keeps groundwater and soil out of the pit. There are several potential alternatives and combinations for (horizontal and vertical) building pit boundaries. The most important difference with cut-and-cover
11310-515: The original World Trade Center was constructed in the 1960s, the Downtown Tubes remained in service as elevated tunnels until 1970, when a new PATH station was built. The new PATH station opened on July 6, 1971, and the Hudson Terminal was closed at that time. The downtown and uptown tubes were declared National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in 1978 by the American Society of Civil Engineers . The last remnant of Hudson Terminal
11440-420: The other. This removed conflicts between departing and boarding passengers. The width of the station averaged 180 feet (55 m) from west to east, and the station measured 530 feet (160 m) long from north to south. Lower Manhattan's topography made it impossible for the H&M to build a "stub-end" terminal, with the tracks oriented on a west–east axis and terminating at bumper blocks . Therefore,
11570-479: The passageway had to pass above the H&M tunnels while avoiding various pipes, wires, water mains, and cable car lines. Early tenants of the Hudson Terminal buildings included companies in the railroad industry; the offices of U.S. Steel ; and some departments of New York City's general post office, which had been crowded out of its older building . U.S. Steel, the post office, and six railroad companies occupied 309,000 square feet (28,700 m ), or over
11700-445: The pits; they weighed up to 26 short tons (23 long tons; 24 t) and could carry loads of 1,725 short tons (1,540 long tons; 1,565 t). The entire lot area was then excavated to the second basement level. Part of the third basement was also excavated down to bedrock. Overall, 238,000 cubic yards (182,000 m ) of earth were excavated manually and 80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m ) excavated via caissons. The main girders at
11830-522: The project is completed. If a tunnel is going to be long, multiple shafts at various locations may be bored so that entrance to the tunnel is closer to the unexcavated area. Once construction is complete, construction access shafts are often used as ventilation shafts , and may also be used as emergency exits. The New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM)—also referred to as the Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) —was developed in
11960-555: The project to Hudson Terminal and taking over the H&M in exchange for New Jersey's agreement. On January 22, 1962, the two states reached an agreement to allow the Port Authority to take over the railroad, rebrand it as the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), and build the World Trade Center on the Hudson Terminal site, which was by then deemed obsolete. The World Trade Center project would include
12090-490: The proper machinery must be selected. Large infrastructure projects require millions or even billions of dollars, involving long-term financing, usually through issuance of bonds . The costs and benefits for an infrastructure such as a tunnel must be identified. Political disputes can occur, as in 2005 when the US House of Representatives approved a $ 100 million federal grant to build a tunnel under New York Harbor. However,
12220-474: The railroad, but the Port Authority had long viewed it as unprofitable. In 1958, the investment firm Koeppel & Koeppel offered to buy the terminal buildings for $ 15 million (equivalent to $ 122 million in 2023 ), as part of a reorganization hearing for the H&M. The Port Authority ultimately took over the H&M as part of an agreement concerning the construction of the World Trade Center . The Port Authority had initially proposed constructing
12350-488: The rear of the excavating shields as the shields were driven forward. The tubes are lined with concrete below the top of the cable ducts, and are unlined above these ducts. On the Manhattan end, the tubes were connected by a balloon loop . The loop fanned out to include five tracks served by six platforms. This layout was built during the construction of the original Hudson Terminal , and a similar layout existed in two of
12480-482: The risk of encountering unforeseen ground conditions. In planning the route, the horizontal and vertical alignments can be selected to make use of the best ground and water conditions. It is common practice to locate a tunnel deeper than otherwise would be required, in order to excavate through solid rock or other material that is easier to support during construction. Conventional desk and preliminary site studies may yield insufficient information to assess such factors as
12610-489: The second basement level. Heavy sets of three distributing girders, encased in concrete, were used in these locations to support the weight of the Fulton and Cortlandt Buildings. Dey Street was carried above the mezzanine via a series of plate girders and I-beams, which formed a "skeleton platform" measuring about 180 ft (55 m) long by 27 ft (8.2 m) wide. The structure carrying Dey Street could accommodate loads of up to 1,400 psf (67 kPa). In total,
12740-542: The sheer size of the excavation. This contrasts with many traditional stations on London Underground , where bored tunnels were used for stations and passenger access. Nevertheless, the original parts of the London Underground network, the Metropolitan and District Railways, were constructed using cut-and-cover. These lines pre-dated electric traction and the proximity to the surface was useful to ventilate
12870-478: The so-called piston effect . When a train passes through the tunnel it pushes out the air in front of it toward the closest ventilation shaft, and also pulls air into the rail tunnel from the closest ventilation shaft behind it. The diameter of both downtown tubes is 15 feet 3 inches (4.65 m). The underwater section of the tubes is about 5,700 feet (1,737 m) in total. The tubes were formed by segmental circular linings of cast-steel, bolted together at
13000-482: The street. The second basement level contained the H&M platforms. The third and lowest level contained the baggage room, electrical substation , and an engine and boiler room for the substation. The depth of the H&M platforms was mandated by the city's Rapid Transit Railroad Commission. To provide space for potential north–south subway lines in Lower Manhattan, the roof of any "tunnel railroad" in
13130-427: The substructure included 11,000 cubic yards (8,400 m ) of concrete and 6,267 short tons (5,596 long tons; 5,685 t) of structural steel. During the complex's existence, the buildings experienced several incidents. Within a year of the office building's opening, in 1909, a man died after falling from a window in the Fulton Building; other deaths from falling occurred in 1927 and 1940. A bag full of explosives
13260-458: The substructure were placed in May 1907. Because of the presence of wet soil in the area, and the proximity of the Hudson River immediately to the west, a cofferdam was built around the site of the Hudson Terminal buildings. According to architectural writers Sarah Landau and Carl W. Condit , the cofferdam was five times larger than any such structure previously constructed. At the time, there
13390-410: The successive World Trade Center PATH stations that replaced it. The current World Trade Center PATH station includes four platforms, but the general track layout, with the five-track balloon loop, is otherwise similar to that of the previous World Trade Center stations. The tunnels were the second non-waterborne connection between Manhattan and New Jersey, after the Uptown Hudson Tubes . The idea for
13520-460: The terminal. The buildings occupied most of the site bounded by Cortlandt Street to the south, Church Street to the east, and Fulton Street to the west, with the northern building at 50 Church Street and the southern building at 30 Church Street. The site was also abutted by several low-rise buildings on Greenwich Street to the west. They were respectively called the Fulton Building and the Cortlandt Building, and were also collectively referred to as
13650-408: The time of its construction, there were plans to build another pair of tunnels under the Hudson River near the Downtown Tubes. The H&M anticipated that two terminal tracks would be needed for each pair of tunnels; the fifth track was needed for flexibility. The additional tunnels were ultimately never built, and several subway tunnels were built very close to the Hudson Terminal complex. Track 5,
13780-473: The tunnel at the time of the explosion. The terror planners believed that Lower Manhattan could, as a result of the explosion, be flooded due to river water surging up the remaining tunnel after the blast. Officials say that this plan was unsound due to the strength of the tunnels. Since semi-trailer trucks are currently not allowed to pass through the Holland Tunnel, and it was infeasible to carry such
13910-400: The tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel excavation, the final use and the shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk management. There are three basic types of tunnel construction in common use. Cut-and-cover tunnels are constructed in a shallow trench and then covered over. Bored tunnels are constructed in situ, without removing the ground above. Finally,
14040-600: The tunnels. The Hudson Terminal station closed on July 2, 1971, to allow a three-day maintenance period to divert service to its replacement, the original World Trade Center PATH station . The World Trade Center station opened on July 6, 1971, west of the Hudson Terminal station. Just before the buildings' demolition, in early 1972, the New York City Fire Department used the empty Cortlandt Building for several fire safety tests, setting fires to collect data for fire safety. The Hudson Terminal complex
14170-428: The two most common being bored tunnels or immersed tubes , examples are Bjørvika Tunnel and Marmaray . Submerged floating tunnels are a novel approach under consideration; however, no such tunnels have been constructed to date. During construction of a tunnel it is often convenient to install a temporary railway, particularly to remove excavated spoil , often narrow gauge so that it can be double track to allow
14300-406: The underpinning of every building nearby. The caissons were made of reinforced concrete with 8-foot-thick (2.4 m) walls. At this location, the underlying rock layer descended a maximum of 110 feet (34 m) beneath Church Street. Within the interiors of the enclosed cofferdam, 115 circular pits and 32 rectangular pits were dug. The steel columns supporting the superstructure were then placed in
14430-425: The westernmost side platform or the baggage room in the third basement. Four elevators also transported baggage from the baggage room to the end of each of the island platforms. Each of the freight elevators had a capacity of 13,000 pounds (5,900 kg), while each of the island-platform elevators had a capacity of 8,000 to 13,000 pounds (3,600 to 5,900 kg). Thus, baggage could be transported to trains on any of
14560-495: The westernmost track, was used by baggage trains and was designated as the "emergency" track. The westernmost side platform, serving Track 5, was used for handling baggage, delivering coal, and depositing ashes from the buildings' power station. The easternmost side platform adjacent to track 1, as well as the island platforms between tracks 2/3 and 4/5, were used by alighting passengers only. The island platforms between tracks 1/2 and 3/4 were used by boarding passengers. The station
14690-483: The width of the trains. The eastern side platform was 11.5 feet (3.5 m) wide because it was used only by alighting passengers from track 1, and the island platform for alighting passengers between tracks 4/5 was 13 feet (4.0 m) wide because track 5 was not used in regular service. The other three island platforms were 22 feet (6.7 m) wide because they each served two tracks that were used in regular passenger service. The engineers studied pedestrian traffic at
14820-427: The world's largest office buildings upon their completion, and the terminal station opened afterward. The H&M was successful until the mid-20th century, when it went bankrupt. The railroad and Hudson Terminal were acquired in 1962 by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which rebranded the railroad as Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) . The Port Authority agreed to demolish Hudson Terminal to make way for
14950-498: Was a cast-iron tube embedded in the original World Trade Center's foundation, located near Church Street. It was located above the level of the new PATH station, as well as that of the station's replacement after the September 11 attacks . The cast-iron tube was removed in 2008 during the construction of the new World Trade Center , a small section being donated to the Shore Line Trolley Museum along with one of
15080-402: Was a lot of office space being developed in Lower Manhattan, even as the area saw a decrease in real-estate transactions. The project was completed for $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 191 million in 2023 ). The buildings were owned by the H&M Railroad upon their completion. By April 4, 1908, tenants started moving into the towers. Originally, the northern office building was called
15210-466: Was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), as well as two 22-story office skyscrapers and three basement stories. The complex occupied much of a two-block site bounded by Greenwich , Cortlandt , Church , and Fulton Streets , which later became the World Trade Center site . The railroad terminal contained five tracks and six platforms serving H&M trains to and from New Jersey ; these trains traveled via
15340-575: Was constructed to provide a second harbour crossing and to alleviate traffic congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge , without spoiling the iconic view. Other reasons for choosing a tunnel instead of a bridge include avoiding difficulties with tides, weather, and shipping during construction (as in the 51.5-kilometre or 32.0-mile Channel Tunnel ), aesthetic reasons (preserving the above-ground view, landscape, and scenery), and also for weight capacity reasons (it may be more feasible to build
15470-424: Was demolished by the end of 1972. After the World Trade Center station opened, the sections of the Downtown Tubes between the Hudson Terminal and World Trade Center stations were taken out of service and turned into loading docks for the 4 World Trade Center and 5 World Trade Center buildings on Church Street. The original PATH station was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks . The last remnant of
15600-416: Was designed to accommodate a full trainload of 800 passengers every 90 seconds, the maximum capacity of the Downtown Tubes. Each of the platforms were 370 feet (110 m) long and could fit trains of eight 48.5-foot-long (14.8 m) cars. The platform widths were determined by the projected passenger loads for each track; the boarding platforms were wider than the alighting platforms and at least twice
15730-529: Was filled with glass. The top six stories of each building contained light-toned terracotta, as in the original plan. The corners of each building had light terracotta strips as well. Tall arches connected three of the top six stories. Because of the differing dimensions of the buildings, the Fulton Building had eighteen bays facing Church Street and nineteen facing Dey Street, while the Cortlandt Building had twenty-two bays facing Church Street and twenty facing Cortlandt Street. The two buildings were connected by
15860-402: Was found in the terminal in 1915, with enough explosives to blow up several buildings of the Hudson Terminal towers' size. The elevators were also involved in several accidents: two people were slightly injured by a falling elevator in 1923, and a woman was killed two years later after being trapped in an elevator. Phillips Petroleum Company executive Taylor S. Gay was also shot and killed in
15990-455: Was incorporated in December 1906 to operate a passenger railroad system between New York and New Jersey via the Uptown and Downtown Tubes. The Downtown Tubes, located about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) south of the uptown pair, were well under construction by that time, as 3,000 feet (910 m) of these tubes had been constructed. Construction of the Downtown Tubes proceeded smoothly, and digging on
16120-478: Was open pedestrian space. The floor of the concourse was made of white terracotta with colored mosaic bands, while the columns and walls were made of plaster wainscoted with white terracotta. The concourse contained a dropped ceiling , concealing some utility pipes and wires placed beneath the main ceiling. The basements were equipped with baggage handling facilities for the baggage trains traveling on Track 5. Two freight elevators carried baggage from Dey Street to
16250-434: Was oriented further northwestward compared to the Hudson Terminal station parallel to Church Street. Because it was longer than the Hudson Terminal station, a large jughandle curve was built from either tube to the World Trade Center station, surrounding the Hudson Terminal approach tracks. The sections of the tubes east of Greenwich Street were subsequently turned into loading docks serving 4 and 5 World Trade Center. To
16380-430: Was overseen by Charles H. Jacobs, chief engineer, and J. Vipond Davies, deputy chief engineer. The terminal was two stories below street level and consisted of five tracks numbered 1–5 from east to west. The tracks were served by four island platforms and two side platforms . All tracks had a Spanish solution layout with platforms on both sides, thereby enabling passengers to exit trains from one side and enter from
16510-399: Was placed 75.8 feet (23.1 m) below ground level at Church Street. From the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse in Jersey City, an 11,000- volt line of alternating current transmitted power to Hudson Terminal, where it was converted to 625 volts of direct current for the railroad and 240V DC for the offices. The O'Rourke Engineering and Contracting Company were hired to build
16640-399: Was still heavily debated, and New York City skyscrapers were criticized for their bulk and density. Some of the city's early-20th-century skyscrapers were thus designed with towers, campaniles, or domes above a bulky base, while others were divided into two structures, as at Hudson Terminal. Furthermore, high real-estate costs made it impractical to build "anything but an office building" above
16770-732: Was superseded by the Madrid M30 ringroad , Spain, and the Chong Ming tunnels in Shanghai , China. All of these machines were built at least partly by Herrenknecht . As of August 2013 , the world's largest TBM was " Big Bertha ", a 17.5-metre (57.5 ft) diameter machine built by Hitachi Zosen Corporation , which dug the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel in Seattle, Washington (US). A temporary access shaft
16900-419: Was used to encase the structural steel frame. The I-beams were supported by columns or on plate girders . Large wind braces were not used; instead, the flanges of the beams and girders were riveted to the columns with what the Engineering Record described as "a moment of stiffness equal or somewhat superior to the depth of the girder". The towers had a combined 39 elevators, which could carry 30,000 people
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