Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 | Page 9

North River, Showing Clear Water Over Tunnel Location. Fig. 3.--Pier No. 72, North River, Showing Incline as Reconstructed For Locomotives.]
A length of 150 ft. of the north side of the pier was for the use of the contractor for the North River tunnels; it was equipped with a set of nine chutes similar to those for the south side; they were used but little, and were finally removed to make room for a cableway for unloading sand and crushed stone.
At the foot of the incline there was a bank of eight telphers running on rails securely bolted to the tops of 20-in. I-beams, which were hung from stringers resting on the upper caps. The beams were erected in pairs, each pair being securely braced together and to the trestle posts to prevent swaying. Each telpher occupied the space between two bents, about 10 ft., so that the entire bank commanded a length of 80 ft., which was approximately the length of a rock scow between bulkheads. All supports for the telphers were provided as a part of the trestle, but the machines themselves were a part of the contractor's plant.
Four derricks were erected on the extension, two on the north and two on the south edge of the pier, supported on bents at a sufficient elevation above the floor to clear a locomotive.
After most of the earth had been excavated, the out-bound set of hoppers on the south side of the pier was removed, and two derricks were erected in their place and used for unloading sand, crushed stone, and other building material.
PLANT.
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 7?-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,