Mr. Rea, Vice-President, has general charge of all matters involved in
the designing and execution of the project.
_The Board of Engineers._--Before the beginning of the work, the
Management appointed a Board of Engineers which was instructed to
examine into the New York Tunnel Extension project; to pass upon the
practicability of the undertaking; to determine upon the best plans for
carrying it out; to make a careful estimate of its cost; and, if the
work was undertaken, to exercise general supervision over its
construction.
President Cassatt's letter appointing the Board contains the following
further instructions:
"You are requested to procure all additional information that may be
needed, sparing neither time nor any necessary expense in doing so, for
I am sure it is not necessary for me to say that, in view of the
magnitude and great cost of the proposed construction, and of the novel
engineering questions involved, your studies should be thorough and
exhaustive, and should be based upon absolute knowledge of the
conditions."
The Board was organized on January 11th, 1902, when it held its first
session, and continued in the performance of its duties until April
30th, 1909, when it was dissolved, its work having been completed.
The Board held regular and special sessions to receive progress reports
from the Chief Engineers in direct charge of construction, and to
consider questions relating to the plans and details of the work
submitted by its members or referred to it by the Management. It then
reported its conclusions to the Vice-President for approval before the
work was undertaken.
The Management earnestly impressed upon the Board throughout the whole
period of its labors, that the Tunnel Extension and facilities were to
be designed and constructed without regarding cost as a governing
factor, the main considerations being safety, durability, and proper
accommodation of the traffic. No expenditure tending to insure these
conditions was to be avoided.
The Board, when organized, was composed as follows: Col. Charles W.
Raymond, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, Chairman; Messrs. Gustav
Lindenthal, Charles M. Jacobs, Alfred Noble, and William H. Brown.
Mr. George Gibbs was appointed a member of the Board on April 9th, 1902.
Mr. Lindenthal resigned on December 15th, 1903, and Mr. Brown resigned
on March 1st, 1906. Mr. Rea and all the members of the Board are members
of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Mr. Noble is a
Past-President of the Society.
Mr. William R. Mead, of the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, Architects
for the Terminal Station, was associated with the Board for the
consideration of architectural subjects.
Mr. Robert H. Groff, Secretary of the Company, was also Secretary of the
Board until his resignation on January 31st, 1907. Mr. William Couper
was Acting-Secretary from April 15th, 1907, to April 30th, 1909.
S. Johannesson, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., was Engineer Assistant to the
Chairman from December 1st, 1905, to April 30th, 1909.
_Division of the Work._--For the purposes of actual construction, the
line was divided into four parts: the Meadows Division, the North River
Division, the Terminal Station, and the East River Division. A chief
engineer appointed by the Management had charge of the construction of
each Division. The chief engineers exercised full authority in the
organization of the working forces, and in the general conduct and
management of the work of construction on their respective Divisions, in
accordance with the plans for such work approved by the Board of
Engineers and the Management.
Architects were employed to design the Terminal Station building and
superintend its erection; and structural engineers to design and erect
steel structures and facilities, and carry on the work under the
direction of a Chief Engineer of the Company.
Committees, consisting principally of officers of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, co-operating with the regular engineering
organization, were appointed to consider the operating features of the
project, so that the experience of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's
organization might be utilized in the work.
[Illustration: PLATE I.--Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad. Map
and Profile. Bergen Hill Tunnel, New Jersey to Long Island Shaft,
Borough of Queens]