(The Jersey Journal posted the following article on its website on July 10.)
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — It could be called the return of the sandhogs – but not right away.
At least not until 2015, if then.
On June 20, NJ Transit took the first step toward construction of a new train tunnel linking New Jersey and New York beneath the Hudson River by awarding a $4.9 million environmental impact study to Parsons Brinkenhoff & Systra Engineering. The study was authorized last October.
The proposed tunnel – two one-way tubes under the Hudson between the Hoboken-Weehawken border and the Chelsea section of Manhattan – is expected to cost between $4 billion and $5 billion.
Engineering and design are projected between 2005 and 2007, when the tunnel sites will be determined. Construction is expected to begin in 2010.
The federally-funded study also will identify how to connect NJ Transit with Amtrak, PATH and New York City subways.
Transit officials said the new rail tunnel is necessary because of capacity passenger loads between New Jersey and Manhattan – about 87,000 passengers a day. The new tunnel could boost capacity by another 70,000 seats.
At the contract ceremony at Newark Penn Station, Gov. James E. McGreevey observed, “It will be the largest and most important project of our generation, and too often we avoid focusing on difficult projects. But we must look beyond the immediate horizon and put the groundwork in place for the next generation.”
But just a week later, NJ Transit officials decided not to extend the planning of a new system to Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan’s East Side; instead, it will be built to New York Penn Station.
The agency concluded the new hook-up to Grand Central would cost additional billions of dollars and prolong the project by years.
Whatever the complications on the new rail link, the region demonstrated it attracts some of the best architects, engineers and planners on both sides of the Hudson River.
That was evident in the 1920s and 1930s – even through the 1950s – when construction workers, known as sandhogs, beavered their way 95 feet below the river for the Holland Tunnel and 98 feet below the Hudson for the Lincoln Tunnel.
The Holland Tunnel opened officially Jan. 1, 1928, but a ceremony was held Nov. 12, 1927, and was attended at the state marker line by New Jersey Gov. A. Harry Moore of Jersey City and New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith.
Brig. Gen. John D. Dyer became the first patron, paying the 50-cent toll.
By Dec. 31, 1928, a total of 8,744,674 vehicles passed through the Holland connecting Jersey City and New York, including 6,836,822 cars the first year.
But there was more than just the toll cost: Sixteen sandhogs were killed during Holland construction.
The work was dangerous and sandhogs toiled one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, with five hours off in between. Pushing through rocks, dirt and mud, the workers vigilantly observed “Think twice because you live only once.”
It was the view shared by all the workers, whether they were of Irish, Italian or African ancestry.
Engineering and safety techniques improved enough that the Lincoln Tunnel work was completed without fatalities – a first for a major tunnel project.
Construction costs for the Lincoln ranged from $60 million for the first tube opened in 1945 to $82 million for the third tube opened in 1957.
By then tunnel traffic had become a necessity.
Because of its novelty, the Holland Tunnel became a tourist attraction as well as a practical solution to getting people across the Hudson. Autos were loaded with passengers lured from surrounding regions.
Last year, 15,641,900 vehicles passed through the Holland; 20,931,000 rode the Lincoln. The toll now is $6 per auto.
The numbers are impressive – and so is the air pollution. All those cars and trucks generate tons of it.