As the use of the 35th Street pier for the disposal of material required
that the mode of transportation should be by dump-wagons drawn by
horses, the plant in use by the contractor during that period
necessarily differed in many respects from what it was later, when Pier
No. 72 was available. Therefore, the nature of the plant during each
period will be stated. The plant for each period will be divided into
five classes:
1.--Central Plant:
(_a_) Power-Generating Plant.
(_b_) Repair Shops.
2.--Retaining-Wall Plant.
3.--Pit-Excavating Plant.
4.--Transportation Plant.
5.--Dock Plant.
Horse-and-Truck Period: July 11th, 1904, to May 22d, 1905.
_1._--_Central Plant._
(_a_).--_Power-Generating Plant._--The contractor's first central
generating plant was established in a 35 by 85-ft. steel-framed building
covered with corrugated iron, the long side being parallel to Ninth
Avenue and 15 ft. from the east house line, and the north end 43 ft.
south of the south house line of 32d Street. The foundations for the
building and machinery were of concrete, resting on bed-rock, the floor
being 20 ft. below the level of the Ninth Avenue curb. The south end of
the building was the boiler-room and the north end the compressor-room,
the two being separated by a partition. Coal was delivered into a large
bin, between the boiler-house and Ninth Avenue, its top being level with
the street surface, and its base level with the boiler-room floor.
At the end of the horse-and-truck period the plant consisted of:
Two Rand, straight-line compressors, 24 by 30 in., having a capacity
of 1,400 cu. ft. of free air per min. when operating at 86 rev. per
min. and compressing to 80 lb. above atmospheric pressure.
One 10 by 6 by 10-in., Worthington, steam, plunger pump.
Three horizontal boilers of the locomotive type, each of 125 h.p.
(_b_).--_Repair Shops._--The repair shops, which included blacksmith,
machine and carpenter shops, were located on the first floor of a 40 by
70-ft. two-story frame structure, which was in the pit on the north side
of 31st Street, 48 ft. east of Ninth Avenue. The second floor was on the
street level, and was used as a storehouse for hand-tools and small
plant.
The blacksmith shop contained: Four forges with hand blowers, four
anvils, and hand-tools.
The machine shop contained: One drill press, one shaper (14-in. stroke),
one 18-in. swing lathe, and one 6-in. bed lathe.
The carpenter shop contained: One circular saw, one wood lathe, and
hand-tools.
The plant in both machine and carpenter shops was operated by one
7½-h.p. General Electric motor, the current for which was obtained from
the Edison Electric Heat, Light, and Power Company.
[Illustration:
Plate LVI.
Material Trestle Showing First Chutes in Operation;
and Views of East and West Pits at Terminal Site
Fig. 1.--Material Trestle, Showing First Chutes in Operation.
Fig. 2.--East Pit, Steam Shovel Loading Excavated Material on Car.
Fig. 3.--West Pit, Showing Condition on June 28th, 1905.]
_2._--_Retaining-Wall Plant._
Three cableways, with 35-ft. towers of 12 by 12-in. yellow pine timber
capable of spanning 350 ft., and operated by 7 by 10-in. double-drum
Lambert hoisting engines mounted with 25-h.p. Lambert upright
boilers.
Five stiff-leg derricks, with masts from 35 to 50 ft. long and booms
from 45 to 60 ft. long, operated by 7 by 10-in. Lambert double-drum
and swinging gear engines, mounted with 25-h.p. upright Lambert
boilers.
Six Cameron pumps, varying in size from 7 by 6 by 13 in. to 10 by 8
by 16 in. The first dimension referring to the diameter of the steam
cylinder, the second to that of the water, and the third to the
stroke.
Five Rand sheeting drivers.
Two Ransome ¾-cu. yd. concrete mixers, mounted on frame, with
kerosene driving engine.
Drills drawn from pit plant as required.
_3._--Pit-Excavating Plant.
One guy derrick, 50-ft. mast and 45-ft. boom, operated by a Lambert
two-drum and swing-gear hoisting engine, with Lambert 25-h.p.
upright boiler.
Three stiff-leg derricks, similar to those used on the retaining wall
work.
Three Bucyrus, 70-ton steam shovels with 3½-cu. yd. dippers.
One traveling derrick, built with an A-frame of 12 by 12-in. timbers,
15-ft. mast, and 25-ft. boom; the traveler carried an engine and
boiler similar to those used on the stiff-leg derricks, and was
used on the Seventh and Eighth Avenue sewers, as well as in the pit.
Ten Rand-Ingersoll rock drills, Nos. 1, 3¼, and 4.
One Reliance stone crusher (nominal capacity 17 tons of crushed stone
per hour) belt-driven by 50-h.p. engine.
_4._--_Transportation Plant._
During the whole of the first period the transportation plant
consisted of two-horse trucks and snatch teams as needed. The number
varied greatly from 25 at the beginning and end of the period to an
average of 135 from August 1st to December 1st, 1904, about 10% of
the total number of teams being used as snatch teams.
_5._--_Dock Plant._
The only machinery used on the dock during the horse-and-truck period
was one stiff-leg derrick similar in size and operation to those
described under the head of retaining-wall plant.
The plant described above does not represent that which was used during
the whole of the horse-and-truck period, but what had accumulated at the
end of it. The power-generating plant might almost have been omitted
from this period, as the first compressor did not begin running until
February, 1905. Previous to that time, the power for drilling, pumping,
driving, sheeting, etc., was steam furnished by the boilers which
subsequently drove the compressors, these being brought on the ground
and fired as occasion required.
Train-Disposal Period, Beginning May 22d, 1905.
At the beginning of this period there had been excavated 242,800 cu. yd.
of earth and 22,800 cu. yd. of rock, of the total excavation of 803,500
cu. yd. of earth and 804,000 cu. yd. of rock included in the principal
contract, leaving to be excavated under that contract 560,000 cu. yd. of
earth and 781,200 cu. yd. of rock, and an additional contract had been
let to the New York Contracting Company for the terminal power station,
which increased the earth by 16,500 and the rock by 15,500 cu. yd.
During the year following, contracts for the east and west portions and
the sub-structures were let, which brought the total to be excavated,
after the beginning of the train-disposal period, up to 681,000 cu. yd.
of earth and 1,494,000 cu. yd. of rock.
The central plant, transportation plant, and dock plant were used
indiscriminately on all these contracts, and, as no separation can be
made which will hold good for any appreciable length of time, the plant
in those classes will be stated in total. The retaining-wall and pit
plant here given include that used on the principal contract and
terminal power station only. The power-generating plant given under
the horse-and-truck period was doubled at the beginning of the
train-disposal period, but it was still insufficient for the work then
under contract, and the additional contracts necessitated a greater
increase. The location had also to be changed to permit the excavation
of the rock under Ninth Avenue. The old stone church fronting on 34th
Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, a building 68 ft. wide and
92 ft. long, made a roomy and very acceptable compressor-house. The
wooden floors and galleries were removed, and good concrete foundations
were put in, on which to set the plant; the walls, which were cracked in
several places, were trussed apart and prevented from moving outward by
cables passed about the pilasters between the windows.
The boilers were erected south of the church, an ash-pit being first
built, the full width of it, with the floor on a level with the
basement. The rear wall of the church formed the north wall of the
ash-pit, and the south wall and the ends were built of concrete. The
boilers were set with the fire-doors toward the rear wall of the
building, and 7 ft. distant from it, and above this fire-room and the
boilers there was erected a coal-bin of 500 tons capacity. The rear wall
of the compressor-house formed the north wall of the bin, the section
of which was an isosceles right-angled triangle. Coal was delivered by
dumping wagons into a large vault constructed under the sidewalk on 34th
Street, and was taken from there to the bin by a belt conveyor.
The plant for the second period was as follows:
_1._--_Central Plant._
(_a_).--_Power-Generating Plant._--The plant in the engine-room
consisted of:
Three Rand straight-line compressors from the original power plant at
Ninth Avenue and 32d Street.
One Ingersoll straight-line compressor from the old power-house.
One Rand duplex Corliss, 40 by 48-in. air-compressor, with both air
and steam cylinders cross-compounded, and a capacity of 5,600 cu.
ft. of free air per min. compressed to 80 lb. at 70 rev. per min.
Three Rand duplex, 30 by 30-in., compressors, connected with 525-h.p.,
6,600-volt, General Electric motors, with a capacity of 3,000 cu.
ft. of free air per min. compressed to 80 lb. at 125 rev. per min.
Two 10 by 6 by 10-in. Worthington steam plunger pumps.
One 7½-h.p. General Electric motor for driving the Robbins belt coal
conveyor.
One forced-draft fan (built by the Buffalo Forge and Blower Company),
driven by an 8 by 10-in. Buffalo engine.
In the boiler-room there were three 500-h.p. Sterling water-tube
boilers.
(_b_).--Repair Shops.--The repair shops remained in their old location
until sufficient room had been excavated to sub-grade in the lot east
of Eighth Avenue, and then they were moved to the old Ninth Avenue
power-house which had been erected at that point. The contents of the
blacksmith shop remained the same as for the first period. The equipment
of the machine shop was increased by one 18-ton trip-hammer operated by
air and one bolt-cutting machine, size 1 in. to 1½ in. The carpenter
shop remained the same except that the electric motor was replaced by a
25-h.p. single-cylinder air motor; there was added to the repair shop a
drill shop containing: Four forges with compressed air blowers, four
anvils, two Ajax 20-ft. drill sharpeners, and one oil blower forge.
_2._--_Retaining-Wall Plant._
The retaining-wall plant was identical with that described for the first
period, with the addition of two Ransome 1-cu. yd., concrete mixers,
with vertical engines mounted on the same frame, using compressed air.
_3._--_Pit-Excavating Plant._
The pit-excavating plant included that listed for the first period and,
in addition, the following:
One Vulcan, 30-ton, steam shovel, with 1-cu. yd. dipper and a vertical
boiler.
One Ohio, 30-ton, steam shovel, with 1-cu. yd. dipper and a vertical
boiler.
Four guy derricks (50 to 80-ft. masts and 45 to 60-ft. booms),
operated by Lambert 7 by 10-in. engines, with two drums and swinging
gear, mounted with 25-h.p. vertical boilers, but driven by
compressed air.
Seventy Ingersoll-Rand rock drills, Nos. 1, 3¼, and 4.
Two Rand quarry bars, cutting 10 ft. in length at one set-up, and
mounted with No. 4 drill using a Z-bit.
_4._--_Transportation Plant._
Twenty-one H. K. Porter locomotives, 10 by 16-in., and 36-in. gauge.
Three Davenport locomotives, 9 by 16-in., and 36-in. gauge.
One hundred and forty Western dump-cars, each of 4 cu. yd. capacity.
One hundred and sixty-five flat cars, with iron skips, each of 4 cu.
yd. capacity.
_5._--_Dock Plant._
Four stiff-leg derricks on extension, having 35-ft. masts and 40-ft.
booms, and each operated by a 60-h.p. Lambert, three-drum, electric,
hoisting engine.
One stiff-leg derrick, on the south side of the pier on the upper
deck, with a 28-ft. mast operated by a three-drum Lambert engine
and a 25-h.p. vertical boiler.
One stiff-leg derrick, on the north side of the dock on the upper
deck, used exclusively for bringing in brick, electric conduit,
pipe, and other building material, operated when first erected by a
three-drum, steam-driven, Lambert, hoisting engine. This engine was
later changed to the derrick on the south side of the dock, and a
motor-driven Lambert engine from that derrick was substituted.
Eight electric telphers.
Ninth Avenue Twin-Tunnels Plant.
One stiff-leg derrick, previously used in retaining-wall work.
One Smith concrete mixer, 1 cu. yd. capacity, driven by attached air
engine.
Two cableways taken from the retaining-wall plant and used for mucking
out the tunnels after the center pier had been built; driven by air
supplied to the original engine.
One Robbins belt conveyor, driven by a 30-h.p. engine run by air.
Three 1-cu. yd. Hopple dump-cars.