New York Rapid Transit Railway.
—The project of an underground rapid transit railway to run the entire length of Manhattan Island was originated some years previous to 1890. In 1894, however, a Rapid Transit Commission was appointed to prepare plans for such a road, and after a large amount of trouble and delay this commission awarded the contract for construction to Mr. John B. McDonald of New York City, on Jan. 15, 1900.
Route.
—The road starts from a loop which encircles the City Hall Park. Within this loop the tunnel construction is two-track; but where the main line leaves the loop, all four tracks come to the same level, and continue side by side thereafter except at the points which will be noted as the description proceeds. Proceeding from the loop, the four-track line passes under Center and Elm Streets. It continues under Lafayette Place, across Astor Place and private property between Astor Place and Ninth St. to Fourth Ave. The road then passes under Fourth and Park Avenues until 42d St. is reached. At this point the line turns west along 42d St., which it follows to Broadway. It turns northward again under Broadway to the boulevard, crossing the Circle at 59th St. The road then follows the boulevard until 97th St. is reached, where the four-track line is separated into two double-track lines.
At a suitable point north of 96th St. the outside tracks rise so as to permit the inside tracks, on reaching a point near 103d St., to curve to the right, passing under the north-bound track, and to continue thence across and under private property to 104th St. From there the two-track tunnel goes under 104th St. and Central Park to 110th St., near Lenox Ave.; thence under Lenox Ave to a point near 142d St.; thence across and under private property and the intervening streets to the Harlem River. The road passes under the Harlem River and across and under private property to 149th St., which street it follows to Third Ave., and then passes under Westchester Ave., where, at a convenient point, the tracks emerge from the tunnel and are carried on a viaduct along and over Westchester Ave., Southern Boulevard, and Boston Road to Bronx Park. This portion of the line, from 96th St. to Bronx Park, is known as the East Side Line.
From the northern side of 96th St. the outside tracks rise and after crossing over the inside tracks they are brought together on a location under the center line of the street and proceed along under the boulevard to a point between 122d and 123d Streets. At this point the tracks commence to emerge from the tunnel, and are carried on a viaduct along and over the boulevard at a point between 134th and 135th Streets, where they again pass into the tunnel under and along the boulevard and Eleventh Ave. to a point about 1350 ft. north of the center line of 190th St. There the tracks again emerge from the tunnel, and are carried on a viaduct across and over private property to Elwood St., and over and along Elwood St. to Kingsbridge St. to Kingsbridge Ave., private property, the Harlem Ship Canal and Spuyten Duyvil Creek, private property, Riverdale Ave., and Broadway to a terminus near Van Cortland Park. That portion of the line from 96th St. to the above-mentioned terminus at Van Cortland Park is known as the West Side Line.
The total length of the rapid transit road, including the parts above and below the surface ground of the streets, as well as both the East and West Side Lines, is about 221⁄2 miles.
Material Penetrated.
—The soil through which the road was excavated was a varied one. The lower portion of the road, or the part including the loop up to nearly Fourth St., was excavated through loose soil, but from Fourth St. to the ends it was excavated in rock. The loose soil forming the southern part of Manhattan Island is chiefly composed of clay, sand, and old rubbish—a soil very easy to excavate. Water was met at some points, but not in such quantities as to be a serious inconvenience. From Fourth St. to the ends of both the east and west side lines, the soil was chiefly composed of rock of gneissoid and mica-schistose character, these rocks prevailing nearly throughout the whole of Manhattan Island. The rock, as a rule, was not compact, but full of seams and fissures, and at many points it was found disintegrated and alternated with strata of loose soils, and even pockets of quicksand were met with along the line of the road.