The Iron Age 1907-01-10: Vol 79 Iss 2

THE IRON AGE A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery and Metal Trades. Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place, New York. Vol. 79: No. 2. New York, Thursday, January 10, 1907. Be ime acenll roam Reading Matter Contents 162 }; ——— Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 191 || Classified List of Advertisers “ 182] Advertising and Subscription Rates“* 190]. IT LOADS ITSELF The modern duck gun. It loads itself by using its , 3 own recoil—thus sparing the shooter’sshoulder, A FORSTER PULLEY WORKS, Cube, &. Y. : " hammerless 5 shot repeater with absolutely safe, CO — “a, solid breech, List price, $40, subject to dealer’s discount, Write to New York address for circulars. Remington Arms Company ns ‘ ILION, N.Y Ropes and Twines te ae Agency: ais Broadway 14 set ; ~S New York City. oe Y 65 Wall Street, New York i < The American Mfg. Co. THE BRISTOL COMPANY Waterbury, Cenn., U.S. A. New York: a Labere ft Chicago; 758 Monad: Bldg. Bristol’s Recording Instruments For Pressure, Sospperatare and Electricity Simple, Aceurate, Reliable, All Ranges, Low Prices, and Gusr- | anteed. Send for Catalog R. SREON Sar. CORD BALEE FORE Sie Babcock B Wiese Co. Alse Linee apd italian Hemp SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. DROAGE WORKS, Bos Thousands of Testimonials Branch Office, 11 Broadway, New York. received from practical men in the horseshoeing business Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., - Cleveland, O. confirm our claim: — That the most exacting requirements of ee the most severe service are SUCCESSFULLY met by ‘*The Capewell’’ nails—the STRONGEST horseshoe nail in the world. It Will Pay You Well Alwaysto Insist Upon Having This Brand SOFT COAL. — Pilling & Grane szzz.2-38% The Capewell Horse Nail Company, anaes. ea HARTFORD, CONN. All Our Brands of Roofing Tin ae Jenkins '96 Packing is preferred by all engineers who have ever had the op- * y rs portunity to gain a full knowledge ofits merits. It makes showing the weight of coating Ve perfect joint instantly. It gives longest satisfactory ser- carried per box of 20 x 28 vice. Itis guaranteed. Write for booklet. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. 112 sheets are shown on Page 16. | OWBOON” GOld Rolled S106! seer‘ DIQWiNg = = . THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPA This cannot fail to interest you. | (Wer snd Bat Dever) aaa MAGNOLIA METAL. AMERICAN Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings Pac-Simile of Bar. SHEET & TIN PLATE | = ~ eabeations : COMPANY MAGNOLIA METAL CO., Owners and Sole Manufaetarers, 113-116°Bank Street, Oop Prenet Franeisco, Menarent one Fs Frick Building Pittsburgh, Pa. Chicago, Fischer Bidg. NEW-YORK metals at coupesitive prices. SOME, and we guess most, people ARE NEVER SATISFIED! Now that our New Open Hearth Steel Works are finished and running, tike our Tin Plate and Black Sheet Mills, Full, the volume’ of business in hand, and insight,makes us wish the Entire Plant were many times larger and we meant to build away ahead of probable require- ments!!! FOLLANSBEE BROTHERS COMPANY Pittsburgh and Branches. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. THE IRON AGE L sts BRASS PLAIN STRAIGHT FACTS lst. The best preter te A strong statement, but the goods ve 2d. Brass cast and rolled on the premises. Care is taken in the stock, which is clean, ductile and the right Semper, 8d, ——— rigid ; tain perfect nails only. No splinters nor imperfect 4th. Packed in 2 ox, and 4 oz. metal boxes. 20z2., sone. heat ee carte All goods peste rall ane Get a prices. RIVER COMPANY, EL Waterbury, Conn. & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze SMELTERS OF SPELTER SHEET ZINC AND MANUFACTURERS OF AND SULPHURIC Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. ACID. L Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yéllow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small Tue Plume & Atwooo M6, Co, MANUFACTURERS OF Sheet and Roll Brass WIR E GERMAN SILVER AND GILDING METAL, COP- PER RIVETS AND BURRS. Pins, brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kero- sene buroers, Lamps, Lamp Trimmings, &c. 29 MURRAY ST., NEW YORK. 199 LAKE ST., CHICAGO, ROLLING MILL : | PACTORIES : THOMASTON. CONN, | WATERBURY, CONN, SCOVILL MFG. CO. MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolis, Wire Rods, Bolts and Tubes, Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp woods. Special Brass Goods to Order. Facrorres : WATERBURY, CONN. Depots NEW YORK. CHICAGO. BOSTON. Henry Souther Engineering Co, HARTFORD, GONN, Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists and Analysts. saeioe tee ie toe on eee Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. Arthur T.Autter &60. 256 Broadway NEW YORK: Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and ||German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS 6O., BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Postal Telegraph Stn New Kork sreadway and ii nee oy Ferien BD =m 4 "ter 7th $e oP hiladeiphia. GERMAN SILVER mepprpmanschyatipome The Seymour Mfg. Co., - - Seymour, Conn. AND ( SHEET TUBING HENDRICKS BROTHERS Copper Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, Metal Goods made to order from WIRE Sheet, Rod, Wire and Tubing. Braziers’ Bolt ana. Sheathing PHOSPHOR-BRONZE COPPER, GERMAN SILVER SOoPPER WiRE AND RIVB]TS. THE RIVERSIDE Importers and Dealers in ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. METAL Co. : RIVERSIDE. WN. J. ULEAD i RYAN. CO 105-109 So erage VOR eas Kes MI at OH 12é By. “vt EES Se ant ) anh Eee td LEO. luminum CASTINGS eet ett Un Shert Norte 49 CLIFF ST., NEW Y_&K. THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, January 10, 1907. Development of Tunneling in New York City. A Few of the Things That Have Been Accomplished Beneath the City and Under the Rivers. BY 8S. D. V. BURR. New York City has been long celebrated as the place par excellence for the study of bridges, whether of the plate and latticed girder type mounted on columns as used for the elevated. railroads, or of mammoth structures of the suspension and stone and arch patterns. Consider- ing these as representing the two extremes, the student of bridge engineering may also find at least one example of almost every intermediate type. New York has taken the initiative along certain lines of bridge development, as witnessed by that wonderful contribution to the science monument to the ability of the engineers in charge and would be of vast benefit to the profession. The Beach Pneumatic Tunnel. One of the earliest and most interesting attempts to solve the rapid transit problem in New York City was that put forward by A. E. Beach, editor of the Scientific American, who incorporated the Beach Pneumatic Transit Company in 1868. The charter wisely demanded practical proof that the scheme was feasible. The company had to Fig. 1.—The Beach Broadway Tunnel, Erected in 1869. of bridge building—the Brooklyn Bridge, opened 24 years ago—and the city has always maintained the advanced position then attained. Still another division of engineering is indebted to New York for contributions of marked originality, and which are destined to be of the greatest benefit in future operations the world over. The tunneling already accom- plished beneath the city and rivers has been distinguished by many bold methods which will surely find application in similar work under like conditions. In both the Sub- way and river tunnels conditions were encountered re- peatedly which could not be dealt with along the old lines; underground work of a character heretofore impos- sible was succcessfully completed—these problems all de- manded new and original solutions. It is the purpose in the following to mention briefly a few of the most im- portant works that have been done. To treat the subject of New York’s accomplishments in tunneling would re- quire a volume of large proportions, but it would be a first “lay down pneumatic tubes from the Post Office in Nassau street,” and continue their operation for a period of three months “ before proceeding to lay down and con- struct other lines of such pneumatic tubes.” The tunnel was to be operated by compressed air, the car was cir- cular in section and approximately fitted the tube. Work was begun at Warren street on Broadway and carried south to Murray street. The tunnel was con- structed with a shield forced forward 2 ft. at a time by hydraulic jacks interposed between the rim of the shield and the section already finished. On the curved portion the tunnel was lined with cast iron curved plates, and was of larger diameter than the straight bricked parts, as shown in the engraving, Fig. 1, which is from the Scientific American. In 1870 the tunnel was thrown open for inspection, and a car was run back and forth. But people were skep- tical and mistrusted the plans. One of the principal objections was that such a structure carried through 120 THE IRON AGE January 10, 1907 Broadway at a depth of 20 ft. below the surface would of how subaqueous tunneling should be done. He organ- endanger such then tremendous buildings as the Astor ized a company, obtained charters and began the construc- House. Mr. Beach was far ahead of his times and people tion of the Hudson River tunnel from Fifteenth street, to be q we THE IRON AGE Mp S SY GW SS YQ i S¥S¥EEQ RQAo@o_0y S . . : > S SS Ws S Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 THE IRON AGB Fig. 7.—View in the Tunne! Looking Toward the Heading, Showing the Radial Struts Resting on the Pilot. THE OLD HUDSON RIVER TUNNEL. had not been educated to the safety and convenience of Jersey City, to Morton street, New York. His plans had underground traveling. the hearty and unanimous disapproval of the entire en- gineering profession; on his part he had unbounded con- The Old Hudson River Tunnel. r tempt for members of the civil engineering profession, During the 70’s D. C. Haskin came to New York with individually and collectively, and he was by no means several hundred thousand dollars and a new conceptions backward in expressing his opinion. Nevertheless, he was January 10, 1907 a brave man financially; he spent his own money and built several hundred feet of tunnel] according to his own plans before asking any outside assistance. The plan certainly had the recommendation of ex- treme simplicity. It presupposed that the silt composing the bed of the river was of such consistency as to present THE IRON AGE 121 the silt, after the excavation had been enlarged to the full diameter of the bore, would be tenacious enough to hold its position until the lining plates and brick work could be built. All these suppositions proved to be true, and work was carried on as shown by the sketch, Fig. 2. The face of Fig. 8.—Tunneling through Rock and Vitrifying the Clay in the Heading. THE OLD HUDSON RIVER TUNNEL. f £ ~ A HERON AGE Fig. 9.—Open Cut through Elm Street. THE NEW YORK SUBWAY. a barrier or partition and divide the working chamber or heading from the water, provided the air pressure maintained inside was always equal to the hydrostatic head outside. If this proved true, then the face of the heading would require no support whatever, and the ex- cavation could be carried on in the same manner as an open cut through a hill.. Further, it was supposed that the heading was stepped or terraced for the convenience of the men, and the crown was kept 8 or 10 ft. in advance of the invert. As soon as a space had been uncovered a plate was inserted, bolted to those already in and then braced with timbers. When a section 10 ft. long had been lined throughout, the brick masonry, 30 in. thick, was built, leaving the tunnel 16 x 18 ft. in interna) 122 diameter. More or less difficulty was always experienced in keeping the air at exactly the right pressure. The ver- tical diameter of the excavation was 23 ft., making a difference in the water pressure between the crown and FLOOR) [LINE a eelilliaennnenae SSNNAAA. .«. CANAAANASAAARAR 2 ANS invert of about 11 Ib. per square inch, while the air pressure throughout was of course the same. When the air pressure was held equal to the water pressure at the crown the water entered at the invert; ,an air pres- sure equal to the invert water pressure permitted the air to escape too readily through the crown. Practice proved that the best general pressure was that a little below the hydrostatic head at the axis of the tunnel. The plates were of %4-in. boiler iron 2% ft. wide by 3% ft. long, and were flanged upon the four sides with angle iron. Four rings of plates constituted a section ready for the masonry. The air pressure varied from 18 Ib. at the start to 36 and 38 lb. at a distance of 1800 ft. from the shaft. Four hundred feet of tunnel built according to this method demon- strated its prac- ticability, but de- veloped a most se- rious fault that be- came aggravated the further the BROADWAY SSS eee 7 , i heading was ad- Wg: vanced. It was im- Lee A possible to preserve ‘ 88 i the alignment of the il ri g tunnel. The work ¥ E : = has since been fin- ished, but the old north tunnel now shows a most er- ratic grade line. Between the exca- vation and_ the bricking the section would settle, and by a varying amount that could not be allowed for, be- cause the consistency of the silt varied. If the excava- tion were carried a little high, expecting it to settle to proper grade, it was likely to settle too much or too little. This uncertainty precluded accurate work and became so serious that when about 400 ft. had beer THE IRON AGE January 10, 1907 finished it meant abandoning the undertaking or devis- ing a better plan. Tunneling with a Pilot. Relief was afforded by the pilot designed by J. F. Anderson, superintendent of the tunnel, who reasoned that if a central hub could be provided against which to brace the plates until the masonry could be built there would be no difficulty in holding grade.. The so-called pilot was a tube, Fig. 3, built of boiler iron plates 22 in. wide by 48 in. long and flanged. It was 6 ft. in diameter and generally from 50 to 60 ft. long. The rear end was substantially braced in the completed tunnel, while the forward end extended into the undisturbed silt in advance of the heading, affording a firm and rigid foundation from which to support the plates. The pilot was used until the heading had been advanced some 1800 ft. from the shaft, and there was no trouble in ~~ holding accurate Spee grade. When, about 15 years later, a + new management = 55%\5° assumed control it SSS was discarded in ™.- favor of the shield. Subaqueous Tun- neling Through Sand Without a Shield. At the eastern end of the tunnel the shaft entered sand and gravel. This was penetrat- ed by a system of poling and plate diaphragms, as in- dicated in Figs. 4 to 6, designed by S. 42%0 ST. a cone —— Pr . H. Finch, the chief 1 | engineer. The H Z method adopted at i the other end was cr + obviously impossi- ’ i ble here. After the Lp | caisson hag been TIMES BUILDING e sunk full depth \ 23 STORIES ke arm AVENUE aH HAHAHA HHH HTH AL EAUSBsE- 5 eS a Ie TIMES BUILDING goat age Sa eter rer ets t) a | th TTT ie es rH “he 7 cee 4 ee os . T™HE IRON AGE Fig. 11.—Cross Section Where the Subway Passes Under the Times Building. THE NEW YORK SUBWAY. an opening was cut in the side toward the river and: a bulkhead the full size of the tunnel built of 14-in. plates braced against the side of the caisson. The real work was then started. A plate at the crown was removed and the sand excavated sufficiently to permit a small plate to be placed horizontally and bolted to those alread in January 10, 1907 THE IRON AGE 123 position. This operation was repeated in a forward excluded by the air pressure. As soon as a section 10 ft. direction and down each side as far as possible before long had been opened it was lined with masonry. the next row of plates in the bulkhead was removed. Where the material was exceptionally loose poling When this crown lad been extended 10 ft., as shown in _ strips were pushed ahead and then drawn back until their Fig. 12.—Constructing the Twin Tunnels Under the Harlem River. Fig. 13.—View of Erector in the East River Section. THE NEW YORK SUBWAY. Fig. 4, a second plate bulkhead was begun. The upper ends rested upon the plates already in place. In other edge of the rear bulkhead was always kept at a higher cases hydraulic cement was forced into the soft material elevation than the lower edge of the forward one, thereby and the excavation carried on after the first method. The forming a sort of diving bell from which the water was method was exceedingly slow and somewhat dangerous, E 124 but notwithstanding this some 1800 ft. of tunnel were constructed in this way. The methods just outlined, being slow, were very ex- pensive. The difficulties under which the men had to work will be appreciated from Fig. 7, which is a view looking toward the heading along the top of the pilot. The braces for the plates are many and very close together. The work was not dangerous as far as the men were con- cerned—the records show that not a man was killed at THE IRON AGE January 10, 1907 the center line of the tunnel. When the shield met this obstruction blasting was necessary and trouble imme- diately arose, because over the rock was a mixture of silt and clay which offered little resistance to the passage of air. The drilling had to be done in advance of the cutting shoe of the shield, and to do the work the men had to leave the shield. When the air pressure was reduced the silt and clay would flow down and stop the operation. To prevent this, partially at least, a hood was built out Say PK PA —) = J oh 4 4 My SP Cn AY . 03? Roe Doone] ket ree ole. Fig. 14.—Cross Section of Double Track Tunnel. ~ 11°10" Line of! Center Lin East bound T —- -- 20'0" > > - ie. Fig. 15.-—Cross Section of Twin Tunnels. i? VE Sw FCN Kays 2 ae ee . o 5 # &! 3! 3 = K ‘ b . " Ms i Ses y 2 } c : bb: & 0 .% , sites ' TE ee en Te ete ee eee oSowe RATT er , FF Wi s4 y SI P ' Se i : ! ! ' 1 , - ' t = - 263 : + -a 1 ee. PO - _— - * Tue Inow Ace y : THE PENNSYLVANIA TUNNELS. the heading; blowouts were somewhat frequent, but they did but little damage beyond flooding the work. All three methods may be ranked as monumental curi- vosities in subaqueous tunneling, and although they were successful to a degree, will never be seriously advanced again, probably not even as a makeshift. The Vitrifying Process Applied to Subaqueous Tunneling. When the present management of the old Hudson River tunnel assumed control, under Chas. M. Jacobs as chief engineer, it was known that a peak of rock would from the face of the shield, as shown in Fig. 8, and the exposed silt was heated with blow torches, vitrifying it sufficiently to prevent its flow into the work. The vitrify- ing process was carried on with a supply of gasoline and compressed air brought in tanks into the heading. After this plan had been adopted the work was pushed forward through the rock without undue trouble. The New York Subway. In a work as vast and varied as the New York Sub- way it is hard to select the most interesting and valuable features, judged from an engineering standpoint. In its be encountered near the New York shore, rising about to « entirety the Subway presents examples of almost every January 10, 1907 type of tunneling, and has had to deal with problems of greater variety and difficulty than any single undertaking through like material all the way. The methods adopted THE IRON AGE 125 cavation type, with the rail level as close to the street surface as the grades and local conditions would permit, and is flat roofed to save the head room required by Fig. 16.—View of Shieid and Plate Erector. THE PENNSYLVANIA TUNNELS. Note—Pile to be filled with=-J Concrete to a depth— 7 of 12 feet =a Tue Iron AcE Fig. 17.—Tunnel Section through a Screw Pile were always those best suited to the conditions, and as the conditions changed so the plans altered. The larger part of the Subway is of the shallow ex- arches. The minimum distance between the top of the tunnel and the street surface was 30 in., that being the depth of the electric railroad conduits. The principal type was a rectangular tunnel consisting of a floor of steel ribs having arches turned between them. The steel frames were then erected, the jack arches turned and the roof waterproofed and concreted. Columns were intro- duced between the tracks for the purpose of further re- ducing the thickness of the roof. The true tunnels were semicircular in section, with the exception of that under Murray Hill, which was a three-center arch adopted in order to lower the roof. Arches were also used on some of the two-track lines where the roof space permitted, as the arch was found to be cheaper than the steel frame construction. Open Cut Along Elm Street. An idea of the method of carrying on the work in open cut through Elm street and also the design of the Sub- way will be obtained from Fig. 9. A portion of this line runs through wet ground and at Canal street is below tide level. Sheet piling was used along the sides of the cut, which was driven through the loose filling to close sand. Afterward the water was pumped out and the concrete floor and waterproofing laid. Then followed the roof beams and arches, In many localities it was most difficult to properly dis- pose of the sewer, water and gas pipes, and particularly so at Canal street, where the headroom was limited to a few inches. In such cases the large main was divided into smaller pipes having a capacity equal to the large one, At certain cross streets, where the distance between the roof and surface was not sufficient to admit of lateral and longitudinal mains crossing each other, a flat metal trough was built between adjacent roof beams and the lateral mains placed in it. The bottom of the trough was made of 3-in. beams resting on the flanges of the roof beams, and having concrete between them. Open Cut Along Upper Broadway. Broadway, between Sixtieth and 104th streets, has a roadway 102 ft. wide, with a parkway in the center, upon each side of which is an electric railroad conduit. RARER Ar OS ~~ \ aes AR SNR, «incites ene —enmentenen combenmanmamncmnieem A ee ee TE | | 126 Through wooden trusses were constructed under each side of each track, and needle beams were suspended from the trusses beneath the tracks. The trusses them- selves were carried upon beams. The work of excavation was done through the parkways and then laterally under the trusses.: By this means the railroad was not endan- gered nor travel interrupted. On Park Row a trench was excavated on each side of the four surface tracks down to grade. Drifts were then cut under the tracks, which were supported upon timbers from the bottom. During this work a temporary roadway was supported upon wooden posts, the street traffic being confined to the four tracks. Cable System Along Fourth Avenue. Along Fourth avenue from Great Jones street to Thirty-third street the excavation was made the full width of the tunnel. The surface tracks were carried over the opening, and the street travel was confined to THE IRON AGE January 10, 1907 and express tracks of the Subway was then blasted out and the steel work erected. Rock Excavation Along Forty-second Street. The difficulties presented along this portion of the line were many and great. The work was in rock all the way and the street traffic was very heavy at all times. To interfere as little as possible with this traffic the opera- tions were confined to the south side of the street, along which a trench was dug-for a width of 15 ft., and in this opening the track for the south bound local trains was laid. A drift was then opened at the level of the roof in a northerly direction—across the street—for about 20 ft., and heavy steel beams were placed in posi- tion. One end of the beams rested on the completed roof and the other end on the unexcavated rock. The street surface was supported on these beams by blocking. Ex- cavation was then made beneath the beams for the south bound express track. The side drift was then carried for- re . chet as Fe Se ee a a9 to 9% Bs aKabealel tote OF: ys Fs Fig. 18.—The Meeting of the Shields, Showing How Perfectly They Registered. THE the track space, thereby temporaril) cutting off direct access to the houses on each block. At important build- ings or where the business demanded it, the excavation was bridged or arrangements made to truck merchandise from the nearest cross street. The surfuce tracks were supported by a pair of 24-in. beams 40 ft. long placed on the outside of the track and at the side of the excava- tion, a similar pair being placed in a trench which was afterward roofed with planks. The ends of the beams were supported on wooden trestles. As the cut progressed timber beams were placed across and beneath the tracks and suspended by rods from the longitudinal steel beams. In this way a!l the soil was removed from under the sur- face tracks, thereby leaving all the space from the curb to beyond the center line of the street free for the con- struction of the subway. The room thus secured was sufficient to permit the erection of the center row of columns. The excavated material was removed by over- head cableways on towers arranged longitudinally with the cut at each opening; where rock was found a derrick was set up. At Union Square the surface tracks were removed near the east curb in order to avoid all danger of injury to them when blasting, as the rock at this point came very near the surface. Space for the south bound local PENNSYLVANIA TUNNELS. ward for another section, the steel beams advanced and the operation repeated. By this means the. surface of the street was kept intact for traffic. At the east end of the Forty-second street section the Subway passes under the Hotel Belmont, a building 21 stories high. An unusual amount of excavation was here required, as the rock came above the ground surface over most of the hotel site. The location of the tracks and their relation to the hotel are shown in Fig. 10. At the opposite end of the section, at Broadway, a still more troublesome task was met in connection with the Times Building, which was to be 23 stories high and was to have a pressroom with a clear hight of 19% ft. directly beneath the tracks of the Subway. A station ex- tending from Forty-second to Forty-third streets was also planned for this point. Since it was desirable that the Subway trains should not affect the presses or building by vibration, the supports for the building and of the Subway were constructed entirely separate. How this was ac- complished is shown in Fig. 11. Tunneling Under the Harlem River. That portion of the Subway extending beneath the Harlem River was tunneled by an entirely new method, designed and carried out successfully by D. D. McBean, . of the firm having the contract for that section. While January 10, 1907 the Government required that the river be kept open for navigation, it permitted it to be temporarily narrowed. The first work was the dredging of a channel across the river bottom to nearly the full depth of the excavation needed for the tunnel. In this channel foundation piles and a row of 12-in. sheet piling were driven along each side and across the ends. These timbers were cut off in a true horizontal plane about 25 ft. below the water sur- face. On the tops of these timbers was lowered a roof 40 in. thick, completely covering the tunnel section. The water was then pumped from the chamber thus formed and at the same time compressed air was forced into the chamber at a pressure correspondng to the depth of water above the roof. Inside the chamber the west half of the tunnel was built and then the roof was removed. A more expeditious, simpler and cheaper method was adopted in constructing the easterly half of this tunnel. The sides of the working chamber were built in the same way as before, but the sheeting was cut off about 12 ft. lower, or exactly at the level of the spring line of the arch of the tunnel. The top halves of the twin tunnels were then built on pontoons, floated over the place and then lowered until they rested upon the sheeting, being guided into position by flanges which had been built upon their sides. These formed the working chamber roof. The bottom half and foundation of the tunnel were then constructed with the aid of compressed air. A portion of this work is shown in Fig. 12. The twin tunnels under the Harlem have a cross sec- tion in the form of two intersecting circles and are sep- arated by a vertical central wall. They are lined with cast iron plates, Work at Trinity Church, The work on contract No. 2, which embraced the ex- tension under the East River and through the streets of Brooklyn, presented many interesting problems. At Trin- ity Church borings showed that the foundations under the spire, which is 286 ft. high, were only 9 ft. 3 in. beneath the sidewalk, that they extended 52 ft. longitudinally and were 9 ft. from the wall of the Subway. The Subway here had a depth of 24 ft., and the excavation therefore had to be carried 15 ft. below the spire foundation. It was decided to divide a length of 57 ft. in front of the church into three sections, and to excavate the middle one first and to build within this the concrete floor and the concrete forming the platform bench and side waii. After this had been finished the other two sections were completed in the same way. In order not to leave voids when the sheet piling should be withdrawn, stee] channels were used as piling and were left in place below the foun- dation level. As a further precaution concrete was rammed against the inside face of this piling. The two tunnels under the East River have been con- structed through solid and disintegrated rock by means of a shield. The tunnel lining is composed of eight seg- ments of flanged plates anda key plate. Fig. 13 shows a portion of the completed tunnel and the manner of handling the plates by means of the erector, which was mounted upon a platform carrying the actuating machin- ery. This platform traveled on rollers placed along each side of the completed tunnel. The erector was pivoted upon a shaft located at the axis of the tunnel. Its outer end was arranged to grasp the plate and hold it in posi- tion until bolted to the plates already in place. At in- tervals along the length of the tubes there are rectangular connecting passages 8 ft. wide and 6 ft. high in the clear. The work done on the Brooklyn division of the Sub- way constantly required the utmost care. All through Fulton street the route lay between comparatively old buildings, the foundations of which had to be safe- guarded. Additional obstacles were presented by the lines of surface electric tracks and an elevated railroad strue- ture, which had to be protected while the work was in progress and the street kept open as freely as possible. In all the Subway construction the engineers had less trouble from new tall buildings than from old buildings only a few stories high, the foundations of most of which could not be trusted, but had to be carefully supported. The foundations of new buildings could be relied upon and were approached, and in fact, gone-under without THE IRON AGE 127 fear, and in no instance were they injured in the least. With the 19 new lines planned by the Rapid Transit Commission, as described in The Iron Age, February 1. 1906, it is more than probable that new obstacles will ap- pear which will call for new methods of construction, and the near future may see further remarkable develop- ments in tunneling, both subaqueous and through dry ground. The Pennsylvania Hudson River Tunnels. In the work now being prosecuted by the Pennsyl- vania, New Jersey & New York Railroad under the Hud- son appear many features of uncommon interest, and sev- eral of which mark long steps in the development of sub- aqueous tunneling. Innovations are presented in the designs and in the methods of construction. In cross sec- tion the single and twin tunnels shown in the sectional drawings, Figs. 14 and 15, have some characteristics in common. Upon each side of the track are placed tele- graph, telephone and power conduits, above which are footways with occasional safety recesses. These recesses have their sides curved so as to present the smallest obstacle possible to a train in case of derailment. The river tunnels are lined with cast iron or steel plates—11 segments and a key to the circle. The outside diameter is 23 ft. and the diameter inside the flanges 21 ft. 2 in. Although the greater portion of the tunnels was lined with cast iron plates, steel was employed where greater strength was demanded by the nature of the material encountered. The plates are larger than those heretofore employed in underground work in this country. The width of a plate, and therefore the length aval of a finished ring, is 30 in., and each segment is 7744 in. long. These segments vary in weight from 2000 to 2600 Ib. Each is formed with a small central opening through which cement can be forced if necessary. At every 15 ft. along the center line of the tunnel is an opening through which the screw piles are to be sunk, The Shield, The shield is provided with nine pockets which can be closed by pivoted doors. It is forced forward by 24 hydraulic jacks arranged around the circumference just within the outer shell, and bearing against the edge of the finished tunnel. With a water pressure of 5000 Ib. to the square inch the total forward thrust of all the 24 rams is 6,600,000 Ib., which is equivalent to a pressure of 105 Ib. upon every square inch of the face of the shield. The rams have a stroke of 38 in. and a piston diameter of 8% in. A, rear view of the shield in place is shown in Fig. 17. The shield is also provided with sliding plat- forms operated by independent rams, which can be pro- jected forward to a line with the cutting shoe. The plate erector, Fig. 16, is mounted upon a central shaft, about which it is revolved after a plate has been gripped at the outer end, and forces the plate forward into position for bolting. When grasped by the arm a segment is counterbalanced at a distance of 11 ft. from the pivot. Screw Piles. A novel feature in tunnel design original with Chas. M. Jacobs, the chief engineer, is found in the screw piles which will be placed at intervals of 15 ft. throughout the length of the tunnels. While the silt forming the bed of the river is sufficiently tenacious to hold the tunnels in perfect alignment during construction, it was not consid- ered firm enough to do so when the tunnels are in use. It was thought that the impact of a heavy motor, if the weight were allowed to bear directly upon the shell, might set up stresses that would result in damage to the struc- ture. To forestall this possible danger screw piles will be sunk to a solid foundation, and upon them the tunnel proper will rest. The piles will be 27 in. outside diameter and the shell will be 1% in. thick. The sections will be 7 ft. in length and will be bolted together through internal flanges, as shown in the section, Fig. 17. The lowest sec- tion will be cast with one turn of a screw 4 ft. 8 in. in diameter. These piles will be screwed down through the openings left in the lower line of plates with an elec- trically driven train of gearing which will have power 128 sufficient to exert a turning strain of 400,000 lb. upon the pile. Tunneling Without Excavating. The silt composing the bed of the river, while tena- cious to a certain degree, can be forced aside. It of course offers resistance to the passage of a body through it, but at the same time it will yield to continued and powerful pressure. By taking advantage of this property the Pennsylvania tunnels have been pushed through the silt, and the tunnels now being run from Jersey City to Cort- land street, New York, are using the same method. Abso- lutely no material is removed during the building. The shield acts as a huge plug which is forced through the silt, which moves one side to permit its passage. The result is that these tunnels mark the most rapid work of this character ever done and also at a cost far less than ever before reached. A record of 72 ft. during 24 hr. has been made on the Cortland street tunnel ap- proaching from Jersey City. This means that this length THE IRON AGE January 10, 1907 The Dahl Automatic Drill Grinder. A machine for sharpening twist drills which is claimed to be the only one on the market that will do the work entirely automatically is shown in the illustrations herewith. It is manufactured in this country by Man- ning, Maxwell & Moore, New York City, and is the in- vention of J. J. Dahl, a German engineer. The machine is equipped with simple and rapid adjustments for taking care of drills of all sizes, from % to 3% in. in diameter. No special skill is necessary on the part of the operator to grind a drill to the true angle required. The drill is ground while it is being continuously revolved, and the grinding wheel is successively positioned at various angles with respect to the axis of the drill to produce the backing off of the cutting edges. No centering of the drill is required. The drills are pointed after grinding without being removed from the machine. Features in its design enable the machine to insure Fig. 1. of tunnel has been opened and lined in that time and without passing a yard of mud through the shaft. Tunnels Meet with Mathematical Precision. The accuracy with which the shoes of the two shields met near the middle of the Hudson on the Pennsylvania tunnels is shown in Fig. 18. By examining the lines of rivets it will be seen that both tunnels were in line, both vertically and horizontally. The joint was absolutely perfect. —_-e_____ A Glasgow news dispatch dated January 3 notes the suspension of Neilson Brothers & Co., iron and steel mer- chants. The trouble was due to the firm’s inability to deliver steel plates sold for forward delivery and to other speculation in the iron and steel markets. Eastern railroads are contemplating the purchase of a large number of steel cars. Only a short time ago the Pennsylvania Railroad announced its intention of spend- ing a large sum of money for this class of rolling stock, and the Erie Railroad has under consideration the pur- chase of 3000 steel cars, which will cost approximately $3,600,000. The Dahl Automatic Drill Grinder, Built by Manning, Maxwell & Moore, New York City. an equal hight and even cutting on the lips of the drill. The wear on the face of the emery wheel is uniform, therefore no equalizing of the wheel is required. On the head of the machine are provided gauges for adjusting the wheel for various diameters of drills, and there is also a micrometer adjustment for adjusting the wheels to cover allowance for wear. The operation of the machine muy be understood from the line drawings, which show an original design of the machine that has since been modified in some par- ticulars, as may be noticed in the half-tone engraving, Fig. 1. On the bed of the machine there is mounted the spindle stock a, which may be traveled by a pinion, }b, meshing in a rack on the bed. The spindle ¢ has a clamping socket, d, for receiving the shank of the drill, the drill being centered at its forward end in a collar plate (a V-shaped trough takes the place of the collar plate in the latest design). The spindle is driven by gears from a back shaft on which the driving pulley is mounted. By means of an encentric, e, on the drill spindle, an oscillating motion is imparted through a rock- ing sleeve on the back shaft to a ratchet and paw! mech- anism, f. This causes the drill to be slowly moved by the screw i in an axial direction toward the grinding wheel h. The latter is driven by a round belt and is mounted on January 10, 1907 THE a support, the base plate p of which is rotatable around the vertical pivot i, while the plate j, carrying the bear- ing of the shaft of the grinding wheel, is rotable around the pivot k. This latter plate is connected through a link to a bell crank lever, 7, pivoted in a stationary sup- port, which is in operative engagement with a cam, m, mounted on the back shaft. This is clearly brought out in the end elevation. The movement of the plate j is limited by stops n and o. In operating the machine the drill, after being posi- tioned in the clamp and V trough, is advanced against the grinding wheel at the moment when the latter is in DADDY IRON AGE 129 of the operation the drill has been rotated 90 degrees, the cam 180 degrees and the bell crank lever / has assumed, the position indicated in the end elevation in Fig. 2. The pin on this lever now engages the concentric part of the cam m, so that no movement of the bell crank lever or the link takes place during the next half rotation of the cam. During the quarter turn of the drill corresponding thereto the end presented to the grinding wheel passes over one helical groove, but shortly before entering this phase the corresponding part of the cam preceding the concentric part turns the support around again and brings it to the position shown in Fig. 3. The position shown Fig. 2.—Front and End Elevations and Plan of the Dahl Automatic Drill Grinder. a position shown in Fig. 3. Before starting, the machine is adjusted to bring the wheel to this position. For the grinding of an ordinary double threaded drill the gears between the spindle and the back shaft are in the ratio of 2 to 1; in the case of a triple threaded drill the ratio would be 3 to 1, and so on. When the machine is set in motion the cam m, one-half of which is concentric with its axis, is in such a position that the grinding wheel first passes from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4; that is, it is pressed against the drill, and the latter through the ratchet mechanism f is gradually moved against the wheel. At this point the cam produces only rotation of the upper supporting plate j around the pivot k, which rotation continues until the plate strikes against the stop 0. During this time the drill has rotated Fig. 3. Plan Views of the Grinding Head at Progressive Stages in the Sharpening of a Drill. so far that one-half of the conical surface between the two helical grooves has been treated. When the base plate j strikes against the pin o the plate p begins to turn around the pivot i, which rotary movement did not previously take place because the plate j turns much more readily than the plate p, the latter being subject to considerable friction in its bearing in the guide g. The rotation about the pivot i causes the grinding wheel to be presented at a different angle against the drill, which produces the backing off or bevel- ing of the cutting edge of the drill. From the beginning in Fig. 5 is maintained only for a very short period. During the next half revolution the drill the cam makes a complete revolution and the movements of the support are repeated, so that now the other half of the drill point is treated. The sharpening of the point is not completed after one revolution of the drill, a number of revolutions being necessary while the drill is gradually moved against the grinding disk. The drills are pointed after being ground without being removed from the machine by the small thin grinding wheel independently driven from the coun- tershaft and mounted in a swiveling adjustable bracket just back of the drill, as seen in Fig. 1. The machine weighs approximately 1900 Ib. It is fur- nished with one large emery wheel, one small wheel for of THE IRON AGE Fig. 5. pointing, the necessary rests for the end of the drill and bushings for the taper shank. A wide range of auto- matic feed is provided. With each machine are furnished countershaft, water attachment and the necesssary wrenches. ———- e—__—__ Owing to the difficulty in obtaining tar and pitch of a uniform consistency, tar macadam pavements have given rather unsatisfactory service in Toronto, Ont. Ac- cording to City Engineer C. H. Rust, the use of this kind of pavement may have to be discontinued. eee SS a THE IRON The Gravity Molding Machine. A molding machine of an entirely new type, which ac- complishes the ramming of the mold by gravity, is being built by the Mitchell-Parks Mfg. Company, St. Louis, Mo., and is shown in the accompanying illustrations. The gravity ramming is accomplished by compacting the sand into wedge shapes to prevent disintegration while falling, and then dropping them into the flask from a hight of 12 to 15 ft., which causes the sand to be packed by the impact of its fall. The machine, shown in Fig. 1, takes the sand from a Fig. 1.—The Gravity Molding Machine, Made by hopper below the floor level, which is provided with an automatic riddle on a level with the floor, and a roller feeder conveys the sand in a uniform stream to the ele- vator. The latter consists of two endless chains carried on sprocket wheels, and is equipped with 4-in. angle iron buckets, which are set 2 ft. apart and are secured at either end to the chains. The buckets vary in length, ac- cording to the size of the machine, and are 2 ft., 4 ft. and 6 ft. long for the Nos, 1, 2 and 3 machines, respectively. The shafting supporting the top of the elevator is at- tached to two timbers 15 ft. above the floor. Suspended from these timbers and hanging directly in front of the elevator is a swinging cradle, which not only can be moved to and from the elevator, but can also be raised * AGE January 10, 1907 and lowered. The bottom of the cradle, on which the molds are made, is supported in bearings for the purpose of turning the flasks when filled. A strike-off is sus- pended over the flask and is used to remove the surplus sand, which falls through the riddle back into the hopper under the floor. For placing the empty flasks on the cradle, and for removing the finished molds, the use of two jib cranes, as shown in Fig. 2, is recommended, one on each side of the machine and each of sufficient sweep to cover floor space enough to hold the molds for a day’s run. To secure the best results the sand should be tempered at the Mitchell-Varks Mfg. Company, St. Louis, Mo. night and arranged in heaps on either side of the ma- chine. Two laborers are required to operate the cranes for bringing the flasks to the machine and removing the finished molds, while one molder only is required to operate the machine. As shown in the side elevation, Fig. 3. the sand after passing through the automatic riddle a into the hoppers b is fed by the roller c to the buckets d of the conveyor, and in its upward movement comes in contact with ram- mer e, and is then carried to the top of the elevator, where it is discharged into the flask. The rammer, which is automatic in its operation, falls from one bucket full of sand to another as each is brought in contact with It, and the force with which it compresses the sand can be January 10, 1907 FLOOR SPACE 31 X 61 FEET THE IRON AGE 13! Ji8 CRANE THE IRON AGE Fig. 2.—Plan View, Showing Location of Jib Cranes for Handling Molds and Flasks. regulated by increasing or decreasing the weight of the rammer. In making the mold, a match board to which the lower half of the pattern is attached is clamped to the cradle f, Fig. 3. The flask is then set on the match board and the sand conveyor is set in motion. The compressed wedges of sand are then discharged into the flask its full width, and to secure a uniform distribution the cradle is swung back and forth. When the flask has been filled the conveyor is stopped and the strike-off, Fig. 4, is swung into position and the surplus sand re- moved. The flask is then fastened to the cradle by an- other clamp g, rolled over, and by the release of a brake on the shaft, from which the swinging cradle is sus- pended, the cradle and flask are allowed to descend until the flask rests upon the supporting bars h, Fig. 5. The clamp which holds the flask to the cradle is then released, and by releasing the brake the cradle ascends to its normal position, carrying with it the match board and pattern, the drawing of the latter from the mold being accomplished in this way, as shown in Fig. 6. For making the cope the match board of the drag is removed from the cradle and another match board with the cope half of the pattern fastened to it is placed into position, and the mold is made in the same way as for’ the drag. For removing the cope flasks special bails are used on the cranes, as shown in Fig. 1, which allow the flask to be turned and placed in position on top of the drag. Bottom boards are clamped on the drags before they are turned in the cradle and are carried away from the machine with the flask for the pur- pose of supporting the sand. The cope flasks are provided with special bars, which hold the sand without bottom boards. The sand wedges drop from the buckets into the flask at the rate of over 50 a minute, and a flask of a large size can be filled in a very short time. No stripping plates are required, and as the patterns are placed on the match board in halves the machine can be rapidly changed from one style pattern to another. ee Harbor improvements at Fishguard, on the Welsh cast, have recently been completed by the Great West- ern Railway. To American engineers accustomed to pub- lic harbor improvement work this large private under- taking seems unusual. Over 2,000,000 tons of rock have been moved, a commodious railroad station, electric cranes, power house and marine depot and 6 miles of sidings have been built, together with powerful breakwaters and sea wall galleries for landing cattle. The new harbor is surrounded on three sides by high hills, two bold head- lands 6 miles apart marking the entrance to the bay. It is