Uptown Hudson Tubes
Encyclopedia
The Uptown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnel
s that carry PATH trains
under the Hudson River
between New York City
and Jersey City, New Jersey
.
On the Manhattan
side, the tunnels follow Morton Street and Christopher Street, and the first PATH stop in New York is Christopher Street
. The service in New York continues uptown to the 33rd Street
terminal. On the Jersey City side, the tunnels leave the riverbank approximately parallel to 15th Street and enter a flying junction
where trains can proceed to either Hoboken
or Newport.
formed the Hudson Tunnel Company to construct a tunnel under the Hudson River from Jersey City to Manhattan. At the time constructing a tunnel under the mile-wide river was considered less expensive than trying to build a bridge over it. An initial attempt to construct the tunnels began in November 1874 from the Jersey City side. Work continued only until December 15, 1874, when progress was stopped by a court injunction
brought about by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
. Due to the lawsuit
work on the tunnels was not resumed until September 1879.
The construction method in use at the time omitted the use of a tunneling shield but did use air compressor
s to maintain pressure against the water laden silt that was being tunneled through. Unfortunately, the pressure needed to hold back the water pressure at the bottom of the tube was much greater than the pressure needed to hold back the water at the top of the tube. In July 1880 an overpressure blowout at the tube top caused an accident that resulted in an air lock jam that trapped several workers. Twenty people died as a result of the accident. The liabilities
incurred as a result of the accident meant that tunnel work was again stopped on November 5, 1882, since the company had run out of money. At that time water was allowed to fill the unfinished tunnel. On March 20, 1883 the air and compressors were turned back on and the tunnel was drained for a resumption of work. Work continued for the next four months when on July 20, 1883 it was stopped once more due to lack of funds.
In 1888 a British
company that employed James Henry Greathead
as a consulting engineer attempted to resume work on the Hudson tubes, but they too were unsuccessful in completing them and were also out of funds by 1891.
. The new effort employed a different method of tunneling using tubular cast iron
plating and a tunneling shield at the excavation workface. The large mechanically jacked shield was pushed through the silt at the bottom of the river. The excavated mud would be carted away to the surface using battery
-operated electric locomotive
s. In some cases, the silt would be baked with kerosene
torches to facilitate easier removal of the mud. The southernmost tunnel of the uptown pair, as well as the downtown tunnels
, were all constructed using the tubular cast iron and tunneling shield method.
In 1906, after almost 33 years of intermittent effort, the Hudson Tubes were completed and were celebrated as the first non-waterborne link between Manhattan and New Jersey. Work continued on construction of the downtown tubes and finishing off the interior of the uptown tubes. The finish work included the completion of a concrete
lining as well as laying rail tracks
and electric power service, and took an additional two years to complete.
The tunnels are separate for each track, which enables better ventilation
by 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. Test runs of trains without passengers started through the tunnels in 1907.
midnight on February 26, 1908. On July 19, 1909, service began between Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, through the downtown Hudson tubes
located about 1¼ miles (2 km) south of the first pair. After the completion of the uptown Manhattan extension to 33rd Street and the westward extension to Newark
and the now-defunct Manhattan Transfer
in 1911, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad was considered to be complete. The cost of the entire project was estimated at between $55 and $60 million, equal to more than $1 billion in 2008 dollars.
were declared National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in 1978 by the American Society of Civil Engineers
.
The coal
-fired Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse
was built 1906—1908 and generated electricity to run the Hudson tube trains. The powerhouse stopped generating in 1929. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on November 23, 2001.
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s that carry PATH trains
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
under the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
between New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
.
On the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
side, the tunnels follow Morton Street and Christopher Street, and the first PATH stop in New York is Christopher Street
Christopher Street (PATH station)
The Christopher Street PATH station, opened on February 25, 1908, is located on Christopher Street , on the west side of Greenwich Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan.-Layout:...
. The service in New York continues uptown to the 33rd Street
33rd Street (PATH station)
The 33rd Street PATH station, opened on November 10, 1910, is located on Sixth Avenue , between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan, under Greeley Square and just south of Herald Square....
terminal. On the Jersey City side, the tunnels leave the riverbank approximately parallel to 15th Street and enter a flying junction
Flying junction
A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "grade-separated junction"...
where trains can proceed to either Hoboken
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is one of the New York Metropolitan area's major transportation hubs. The commuter-oriented intermodal facility, is located on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey...
or Newport.
Initial construction attempts
In 1873 a wealthy Californian Dewitt Clinton HaskinDewitt Clinton Haskin
Col. Dewitt Clinton Haskin was an American engineer whose innovations in tunnel construction allowed tunnels under the Hudson River to Manhattan to be completed....
formed the Hudson Tunnel Company to construct a tunnel under the Hudson River from Jersey City to Manhattan. At the time constructing a tunnel under the mile-wide river was considered less expensive than trying to build a bridge over it. An initial attempt to construct the tunnels began in November 1874 from the Jersey City side. Work continued only until December 15, 1874, when progress was stopped by a court injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
brought about by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York...
. Due to the lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
work on the tunnels was not resumed until September 1879.
The construction method in use at the time omitted the use of a tunneling shield but did use air compressor
Air compressor
An air compressor is a device that converts power into kinetic energy by compressing and pressurizing air, which, on command, can be released in quick bursts...
s to maintain pressure against the water laden silt that was being tunneled through. Unfortunately, the pressure needed to hold back the water pressure at the bottom of the tube was much greater than the pressure needed to hold back the water at the top of the tube. In July 1880 an overpressure blowout at the tube top caused an accident that resulted in an air lock jam that trapped several workers. Twenty people died as a result of the accident. The liabilities
Legal liability
Legal liability is the legal bound obligation to pay debts.* In law a person is said to be legally liable when they are financially and legally responsible for something. Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law. See Strict liability. Under English law, with the passing of the Theft...
incurred as a result of the accident meant that tunnel work was again stopped on November 5, 1882, since the company had run out of money. At that time water was allowed to fill the unfinished tunnel. On March 20, 1883 the air and compressors were turned back on and the tunnel was drained for a resumption of work. Work continued for the next four months when on July 20, 1883 it was stopped once more due to lack of funds.
In 1888 a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
company that employed James Henry Greathead
James Henry Greathead
James Henry Greathead was an engineer renowned for his work on the London Underground railway.-Early life:Greathead was born in Grahamstown, South Africa; of English descent, Greathead's grandfather had emigrated to South Africa in 1820. He was educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown, and the...
as a consulting engineer attempted to resume work on the Hudson tubes, but they too were unsuccessful in completing them and were also out of funds by 1891.
Completion of construction
In 1902 a newly-formed New York and Jersey Tunnel Company was organized under the leadership of a Tennessean named William Gibbs McAdooWilliam Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
. The new effort employed a different method of tunneling using tubular cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
plating and a tunneling shield at the excavation workface. The large mechanically jacked shield was pushed through the silt at the bottom of the river. The excavated mud would be carted away to the surface using battery
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
-operated electric locomotive
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
s. In some cases, the silt would be baked with kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
torches to facilitate easier removal of the mud. The southernmost tunnel of the uptown pair, as well as the downtown tunnels
Downtown Hudson Tubes
The Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City in the United States. In lower Manhattan the trains travel to and from the World Trade Center station. In Jersey City the trains stop at the Exchange Place station...
, were all constructed using the tubular cast iron and tunneling shield method.
In 1906, after almost 33 years of intermittent effort, the Hudson Tubes were completed and were celebrated as the first non-waterborne link between Manhattan and New Jersey. Work continued on construction of the downtown tubes and finishing off the interior of the uptown tubes. The finish work included the completion of a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
lining as well as laying rail tracks
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
and electric power service, and took an additional two years to complete.
The tunnels are separate for each track, which enables better ventilation
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
by the so-called piston effect
Piston effect
Piston effect refers to the forced air flow inside a tunnel caused by moving vehicles.-Cause of the Effect:Air in a tunnel is confined by the tunnel walls, hence the movement of air is restricted. In open air, when a vehicle travels along, air is being pushed and can move to any directions except...
. 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. Test runs of trains without passengers started through the tunnels in 1907.
Service begins
The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company was formed to run passenger service through the tunnel pair. Service in the uptown pair started started between Hoboken and 19th Street in Manhattan atmidnight on February 26, 1908. On July 19, 1909, service began between Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, through the downtown Hudson tubes
Downtown Hudson Tubes
The Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City in the United States. In lower Manhattan the trains travel to and from the World Trade Center station. In Jersey City the trains stop at the Exchange Place station...
located about 1¼ miles (2 km) south of the first pair. After the completion of the uptown Manhattan extension to 33rd Street and the westward extension to Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
and the now-defunct Manhattan Transfer
Manhattan Transfer (PRR station)
Manhattan Transfer was a passenger station in Harrison, New Jersey, east of Newark, 8.8 miles west of New York Penn Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad main line, now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor...
in 1911, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad was considered to be complete. The cost of the entire project was estimated at between $55 and $60 million, equal to more than $1 billion in 2008 dollars.
Awards
The uptown and downtown Hudson tubesDowntown Hudson Tubes
The Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City in the United States. In lower Manhattan the trains travel to and from the World Trade Center station. In Jersey City the trains stop at the Exchange Place station...
were declared National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in 1978 by the American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
.
The coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-fired Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse
The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, also known as the Jersey City Powerhouse in Jersey City, New Jersey was built in 1908. The powerhouse made possible the subway system between New Jersey and New York for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad . The powerhouse was closed in 1929 and used as...
was built 1906—1908 and generated electricity to run the Hudson tube trains. The powerhouse stopped generating in 1929. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on November 23, 2001.
See also
- Downtown Hudson TubesDowntown Hudson TubesThe Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City in the United States. In lower Manhattan the trains travel to and from the World Trade Center station. In Jersey City the trains stop at the Exchange Place station...
- Hudson and Manhattan Railroad PowerhouseHudson and Manhattan Railroad PowerhouseThe Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, also known as the Jersey City Powerhouse in Jersey City, New Jersey was built in 1908. The powerhouse made possible the subway system between New Jersey and New York for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad . The powerhouse was closed in 1929 and used as...
- North River Tunnels
- Timeline of Jersey City area railroadsTimeline of Jersey City area railroadsFor the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area goes north to Edgewater , south to Bayonne, and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark...
- List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey
External links
- Progress of the Great Railway Tunnels Under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey City Scientific American, November 1, 1890