Plate LX, Fig. 2.—Center Wall and Skewback Under I-Beams, After Removal of Double Row of Posts.
Plate LX, Fig. 3.—Timbering in Full-Width Heading of Three-Track Tunnel.
Plate LX, Fig. 4.—Underpinning Walls in Open-Cut Section.
After some delay, an exploration drift, similar to the one already described, was driven through to Sixth Avenue, and a change in plan was made, substantially the same as for the 33d Street tunnels. Enlargement to full size was at once started, but, for 400 ft. the rock was very soft and poor, and required extremely careful handling. The exploration drift was widened out to the full Twin-Tunnel width, and I-beams were placed and supported, in much the same manner as in 33d Street. The rock was so soft that it was frequently necessary to drive poling boards ahead as the face was mined out with picks and shovels. The load was very heavy, and the work the most difficult encountered in the tunnels.
After this stage of the enlargement was reached, the excavation of the bench and the placing of the lining proceeded alternately, with the I-beams temporarily supported on long posts while the concrete core-wall was being built. Considerable settlement took place while shifting the posts, and eventually showed on the street surface and in the adjacent sidewalk vaults, but no damage was done to the structural portions of the buildings.
While the above work had been going on westward from Fifth Avenue, the excavation of the Twin Tunnel eastward from the end of the open-cut section at Sixth Avenue had been proceeding rapidly, and, toward the end of the difficult Fifth Avenue work, it was being attacked from both directions.