Why New York's First River Tunnel is Falling Apart (The Story of The Hudson Tunnel)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ส.ค. 2024
- The Hudson Tunnel is absolutely massive and was the first large-scale tunneling project under a prominent American river. Originally intended to be the first trans-river rail link between Jersey City and Manhattan, the tunnel took more than 30 years to complete. The history of the tunnel is a fascinating example of early Gilded Age engineering technology and is considered a notable engineering achievement. Today we will discover the story of the Hudson Tunnel and how it came to be!
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IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
Chapters:
00:00 The Hudson Tunnel is the first trans-river rail link between Jersey City and Manhattan.
00:40 Why The Hudson River divides New Jersey from New York state.
01:14 Colonel De Witt Clinton conceived the idea to construct a tunnel under the Hudson River.
02:11 Clinton insisted that excavating the Hudson tunnel should be in a compressed air environment
04:08 Construction of the Hudson tunnel began on November 17, 1874, with the sinking of a shaft on Fifteenth Street in Jersey City.
05:39 A Hudson Tunnel blowout on July 21, 1880. A leak developed on top of the tunnel.
06:02 General William Smith joined the Hudson Tunnel project as chief engineer and introduced several improvements.
07:00 The Hudson tunnel's Trevor Park died and finances diminished.
07:46 Technical knowledge and expertise were sought out by British consulting engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker.
09:09 Why English engineer Charles Mattathias Jacobs was invited to assess the practicality and cost of completing the hudson tunnels.
10:14 The north tunnel was holed through on March 11, 1904, and the south tunnel was holed through on September 29, 1905.
10:44 What were the first trains to run through the Hudson River Tunnel?
11:25 The idea for the second set of tunnels was derived from a study of ferry traffic.
12:12 Service on the Downtown Tunnels began.
12:37 The popularity of the automobile skyrocketed. Road traffic was significantly increasing.
13:56 the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company declared bankruptcy
15:00 the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Tunnel was nominated to be a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
16:15 The revival of the Hudson. The tunnels were flooded during Hurricane Sandy, which prompted the creation of The Hudson Tunnel Project.
17:59 Closing: With over 30 years of development and several years of operation, the Hudson Tunnel still stands.
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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Camrin Dekis,
Editor - Nina Wade
Host - Ryan Socash
» SOURCES
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» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.
Most of the pictures of railroad operation do not show the Hudson Tubes, but rather the North River tunnels constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1904 and 1908 and now owned and operated by Amtrak. Unfortunately, they are in only marginally better condition than the Hudson Tubes.
This truly was an extremely extraordinary piece of engineering, especially in that time.
Unless , there was a tunnel already in place? Ancient infrastructure possibilities.?
@@theScrupulousBerserker don’t buy into that stuff, it’s complete bullcrap
Dont forget the corruption that followed.
I’m sitting here watching in a building built during that same period. It’s all in sad shape now, but still impressive.
The failure of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad was not due to automobile competition. The failure was due to the New Jersey government forcing the Railroad to maintain uneconomically low fares.
Exactly plus not allowing expansion as well. NJ state wanted to be a rural state but proximity to NYC and cheap land brought industry and suburbia
It would not surprise me, governments love to blame their own shortcomings on believable scapegoats.
New Jersey’s politics are almost as corrupt and fuk’d as New York’s.
Being from the area I didn't believe it took 30 years to construct a railroad tunnel , life time.
It didn't. This video is riddled with mistakes and errors.
@@WhiskyCardinalWes Why are these videos filled with so many errors?
The compessed air technique sounds sketchy AF. Those poor men
Imagine how scary it must have been to go down in those tunnels. Anything for a dollar I suppose!
Hmmm... You're mish-mashing the H&M tunnels with the Pennsylvania RR Cassat Tunnels of 1910 that go to NY Penn Station. Especially by showing NJT and Amtrak trains entering the PRR portal while describing PATH.
Time to hire a Researcher/Proofreader to make your great videos even better!!
Came here to say this. Grew up in Hoboken and rode the PATH for years. Only place the PATH has a tunnel portal is just west of the far west end of 1st St in Jersey City. Journal Square, Harrison, and Newark are the only stations that are above ground. The entirety of the rest of the network is underground and ONLY serves PATH trains. The tunnels shown with Amtrak and NJTransit trains is the old Pennsylvania RR tunnel that emerges just south of where NJ Route 3 and US 1&9 meet in North Bergen. Both were damaged during Hurricane Sandy, but the second tunnel is the one currently in dire need of repair, and the one that the 'Gateway' name was given to, as well as a SIGNIFICANT amount of controversy and red tape regarding new tunnels and the potential rehabilitation of the existing lines.
Pretty cool that the day it was certified as a historical landmark is also the very day I entered this world.
If only Gov. Christie hadn't canceled the ARC tunnel project in 2010, we would have already had another tunnel completed by now. The new project will likely cost twice what the previous one was estimated to be.
Considering the politicians in charge of it that estimate is probably highly optimistic
It would still be under construction and the costs of the new NJT terminal under 34th st in NYC would have bankrupted New Jersey. As you may recall the number one issue with the ARC tunnels, unlike other projects, is that nobody wanted to agree to funding the cost over runs.
16:32 the damage was allowed to happen to suit a "higher purposes"
Very interesting until the end!
*Railroad Owners* Shaft! Can ya dig it?
*Sandhogs* "Right on"
Good One!
@@kenney5454 thanks!
Back to the classics, nice!
Don’t worry Ryan, tunnel Videos are my favorite and we will make MANY more!
Thank you..
Good stuff
Sweet!
Great vid as always. But leave me to question. Does a tunnel stand? If it doesn't what does it do, sit?
With the interior concrete spalling off, the rebars being exposed, and the intrusion of sea water, I think the North River (Penn Station) Tunnels should be abandoned and filled with sand. Of course, that would require the construction of 4 new tubes. Might as well bite the bullet!
I suppose that with time, all tunnels will be filled with water or sand one way or another.
New sub ! Liked 👍🚀😀❤️
It is over 100 years old.
do the sumner and callahan tunnel in bostom. the sumner is going to close for huge renovations.
Oh in it right now
Uptown Hudson Tunnel.
Fascinating video, thank you 👍
And it was built without government funds! Pennsylvania Railroad, and a consortium of investment banks. It has lasted for more than a century.
This was a time when the Federal Government stayed closer to the original intent of the Constitution
This video is focusing on the tunnels the PATH uses, not the north river tunnels of the PRR which would open a few years later
Interesting isn’t it. Pennsylvania Railroad had invested in and operated both the PATH (Hudson & Manhattan) and the Hudson Tunnels to Penn Station.
Why is the title card always so loud compared to the rest of the video?
Audio mastering issue, upcoming videos already have that fixed.
Thank You Ryan for always having great content! Keep up the great work.
Thank you Nathan! Your support means the world to us!
The Secretary couldn’t even fill the potholes in the city he was mayor of. NYCs senior Senator can care less unless he has his hands in the cookie jar!
Classic
@@ITSHISTORY - Ryan, I was wondering why you didn't mention his name, but when I Googled it found I didn't mind it at all 😂. Charlie Schumer, OTOH...
(BTW, Pete ran for POTUS in the Democrat Primaries in 2020. Know that because that last name was "slightly familiar" to me)
Crazy how Delaware litigation stopped 5 years of progress. Nonsense like that still goes on.
Nice
So some sort of new one is in order
Will the problem of random violence and safety issues kill the ridership of mass transit through the tunnels? I already stopped riding the MTA and drive into the city, even though I have to deal with traffic and parking.
Isn't that a bit off topic?
And yes, nothing would make me abandoned the MTA to line up in endless traffic jams and to pay ridiculously high parking fees. And then every day can result in an accident adding more incidental costs.
No, thanks.
Then you are being quite foolish. Despite the publicity given to a few incidents, the chances of any one person (say you) being attacked and harmed are extremely small.
Hello from the UK. This is a really interesting video. I would however, like to mention that along with "the determination of New Yorkers" there was also more than a little engineering expertise and investment from England! I would also mention that in the UK we use passenger trains far more than you do in the US. Those of us who have had to commute to central London and other cities tend to use trains. A significant amount of the switch from rail to road that occurred after World War 2 has already been reversed.
I think we will start covering UK topics in the future- where do you propose we start? Thanks for watching!!
@@ITSHISTORY I can think of no better starting point than the life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel is perhaps the greatest engineer of all time. He designed parts of Bristol Docks, designed numerous bridges (including the Clifton Suspension Bridge). Built the SS Great Britain, the worlds first screw propelled ship. largest iron ship launched in 1843. He pioneered and built the Great Western Railway (including the oldest station buildings still standing). Much of his work not only survives, but is still part of the UK's infrastructure. There is enough there for a whole series of videos!
It's called incompleteness and no maintains nothing else need to be said until there is accountability
Sorry due to Bugs Bunny " HOBOKEN Oh I DYING AGAIN!" LoL is what I think of every time I here Hoboken 🤣😉
So the tunnel was designed in the metric system and not the English US standard system. Interesting.
The US standard system is called the Imperial system
@@casbrowne9055 The US uses the English system, not the British Imperial system.
Far as I’m concerned this was your best video so far. Thank you very very much.
lost me at 17:00
Those people are criminally insane
The project should have been done 10 years ago…..Chuck Schumer actually has every right to be involved with this, he has been talking about this for 10 years.
Please leave out the annoying glittering effect next time.
Leaves work for future generations yea righttttt!!!
Built by the cheapest contractors and under time pressure. That is why.
Well it’s falling apart because people who actually paid for the tickets long left NewYork!
👍👍
3:17 ok i lost some brain cells there. could someone explain that in normal English?
Basically, they were pushing the limits on how much pressure a human body can handle. Got it?
@@ITSHISTORY Much better, thank you.
Another high quality informative presentation! Thank you!
High quality? Not the content. See many other comments.
Do the Disney trafficking tunnels next!!
🐾
with Chucky Shumer, And Peter BootyJudge, we no doubt have a promise of big money, and kick backs😂
I'm surprised Pete Buttigieg did not say the Hudson Tunnel was racist 🤣
Soooooo, it took a Tennessee man to make it happen… Figures.
I bet a lot of utility's run through the tunnel
If you mean commercial power supply, natural gas, water, sewer ... WRONG.
What do think when crooks and criminals are in on the action , cheap concrete and rusty steel used . ????
I wish that Ryan would have addressed the impact of President Trump on the Gateway project, having effectively delayed it a decade or so by cutting funding.
LOL, I mentioned Trump once in the context of 1980’ Atlantic City and people went mad 😡. I can’t imagine what would happen if I actually featured something critical / constructive. I guess you’ll have to turn to the whole rest of TH-cam for that one 😎
@@ITSHISTORY I think it's extremely important! You spent half the damn video talking about delays, here's one happening right now 😁 your kid is gonna make a video just like this one, but documenting everything you missed haha 😂
If someone wants to get prissy over an objective fact, that's their prerogative. Acknowledging facts isn't political.
@@ITSHISTORY So in your world, FACTS lose out to idiots with big mouths who are woefully misinformed on almost everything politically. That's cowardly and pathetic. You're no journalist. Glad I don't subscribe to you.
No surprise,- it is new pork after all🙄
Pete and Chuck Schumer will never fix anything...
Can you elaborate?
@@ITSHISTORY - local politics, Ryan (although they say "all politics are local") 🤔🤔
it's called the North River tunnel buuuut okay........... this is 2022 after all.......... i identify as a AH-6 attack chopper myself :D
I kind of doubt the compressed air . . . life below sea level isn't all that different. And they weren't going deep. I think the problem was CO2 from enclosed ventilation. Otherwise known as work, schoolboy. So. You and your girlfriends keep things dicey so that there's always work and always a labor pool at your disposal. That way, you'll be boss and have all the answers.
Whered all that 'infrastructure' money go? How much are taxes in NYC? I'm sure they'll love the hike when they actually have to try to balance the books. Should just let it be private
Did you ever see how expensive private toll roads are to pass ?
@@ITSHISTORY fair, but have you seen how long it takes the government to do anything? And do it right? I'm obviously not an expert but selling or auctioning the rights to the tunnel would create some competition and probably get done alot faster. They'd rather let it rot then fix it anyway, when was hurricane sandy? 2012?
NY is falling apart
Rail tunnels? nah we can't fix that let's send 50 billion to the Ukraine instead
30 years seems like way too lkng. Empire state building only took 18 months to build. Sounds like a drawn out time & material overpriced job.
Although we didn't cover it, I be the bureaucratic end of all this also caused delay. How long do you think it would take to build such a tunnel today?
Shame that the money we are wasting on the Ukraine and other foreign aid is not being spent fixing our dilapidated crumbling infrastructure.
We do not send sacks of money to Ukraine as aid. The U.S. government pays U.S. contractors to manufacture material and then send them to
Ukraine (thus, American workers). That is what foreign aid is. Second, the U.S. government can print as much money as it wants to. There is no such thing as "wasting money" as though there is a finite amount of it. The only thing hanging up spending money to fix our infrastructure is Congress approving it. Take a guess who keeps blocking every effort to do this? Take a guess.
We waste a lot more than that subsidizing red states.
On one hand, I live right by the border of Ukraine so I'm glad that the US is investing in protecting Europe. On the other hand, I totally understand your point of view here.
That's just misinformed horse poo. Are you really that disconnected from facts? The INFRASTRUCTURE bill passed and signed in 2021 has money for an entirely new Amtrak/NJT tunnel plus fixing the original tubes. And MANY MANY other priority infrastructure projects throughout the US. Get a clue. And money spent assisting Ukraine is hardly "wasted". Maybe you'd like to explain why Putin should be allowed to succeed? SMDH
@@dock_yard1149 You mean that joke of an Infrastructure bill that is causing record inflation since democrats are printing money to pay for it and filled with tons of liberal pork that has NOTHING to do with infrastructure? You mean THAT ONE? Wow, I am so glad it passed. NOT!