Holland Tunnel

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Holland Tunnel


caption= Holland Tunnel Entrance, New York City side
official_name= Clifford Milburn Holland Tunnel
also_known_as=
carries= 4 lanes of I-78
crosses= Hudson River
locale= Jersey City, New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City
maint= Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
id=
design=
mainspan=
length= 2,608.48 meters (8,558 feet) (westbound)
2,551.48 meters (8,371 feet) (eastbound)
width=
clearance=12 feet 6 inches
below=
traffic= 95,063 (2007) [cite web | url=http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/tunnels/html/holland.html | accessdate=2008-07-29 | title=Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - Holland Tunnel Statistics]
open= November 13, 1927
closed=
toll= Eastbound only: Cars $8.00 cash, $8.00 E-ZPass peak, $6.00 E-ZPass off-peak (2008) [cite web | url=http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/tunnels/html/tolls.html | accessdate=2008-07-29 | title=The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Tolls Information, effective March 2, 2008]
map_cue=
map_

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map_width=250px

Infobox_nrhp | name =Holland Tunnel
nrhp_type = nhl

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caption = Traveling through the Holland Tunnel, from Manhattan to New Jersey
location= Jersey City, NJ and New York, NY
lat_degrees = 40
lat_minutes = 43
lat_seconds = 38
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 74
long_minutes = 0
long_seconds = 41
long_direction = W
locmapin = New Jersey
area =
built =1920
architect= Clifford Holland
designated = November 04, 1993
added = November 04, 1993
governing_body = Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
refnum=93001619cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Holland Tunnel is a highway tunnel under the Hudson River connecting the island of Manhattan in New York City with Jersey City, New Jersey at Interstate 78 on the mainland. The tunnel was originally known as the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel or the Canal Street Tunnel and, along with the Lincoln Tunnel, is one of two highway tunnels under the Hudson River.

Description

Begun in 1920 and completed in 1927, it is named after Clifford Milburn Holland (1883 - 1924), Chief Engineer on the project, who died before it was completed. Famed tunnel designer Ole Singstad finished Holland's work. The tunnel is one of the earliest examples of a ventilated design, having 80 ft (24 m) diameter fans blowing air in one series of ducts and out another series. Ventilation was required by the advent of the automobile and associated exhaust.Staff. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786201,00.html "Holland Tunnel"] , "Time (magazine)", November 21, 1927. Accessed September 25, 2008.]

The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes, each providing two lanes in a convert|20|ft|m|0 roadway width and convert|12.5|ft|m|1 of headroom. The north tube is convert|8558|ft|m|0 from end to end, while the south tube is slightly shorter at convert|8371|ft|m|0. [http://www.panynj.gov/commutingtravel/tunnels/html/holland.html#stats Holland Tunnel Statistics] , Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Both tubes are situated in the bedrock beneath the river, with the lowest point of the roadway approximately 93 feet (28 m) below mean high water. A nine-lane toll plaza equipped with E-ZPass (first made available in October 1997) is located on the New Jersey side of the tunnel. [Halbfinger, David M. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EEDB1731F934A15753C1A961958260 "E-Z Pass to Start at Hudson River Tunnels"] , "The New York Times", October 27, 1997. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Asof|2008, the cash toll for passage from New Jersey to New York is $8 for cars and $7 for motorcycles (there is no toll going to New Jersey). Vehicles equipped with an E-ZPass receive a discount during off-peak hours ($6 for cars, $5 for motorcycles). [ [http://www.panynj.gov/commutingtravel/bridges/html/tolls.html Tolls Information] , Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Accessed September 25, 2008.]

The amount of traffic at the Holland Tunnel has remained steady in recent years, despite tight restrictions on eastbound traffic in response to the September 11 attacks, including a ban on commercial traffic entering New York City, put in place after an August 2004 threat. [ [http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/CustomerRelations/taframe.html Weekly Traffic Advisory] , Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Accessed September 25, 2008.] [McFadden, Robert D. ; and Dao, James. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE5DF173CF930A3575BC0A9629C8B63 " THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE OVERVIEW; At 5 Buildings, A Day of Pluck And Patience"] , "The New York Times", August 3, 2004. Accessed September 25, 2008.] The tunnel was used by 34,698,000 vehicles in 2007, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — the bi-state government agency that owns and operates the Holland Tunnel and several other area bridges, tunnels, and airports. That is slightly less than the 34,729,385 vehicles seen in 2006, but up from the 33,964,000 vehicles in 2005.

The tunnel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993.cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2176&ResourceType=Structure
title=Holland Tunnel|date=2007-09-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service] cite web|url=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/93001619.pdf "Holland Tunnel", March 1993, by Robie S. Lange] |1.27 MiB |title=National Historic Landmark Nomination|date=1993-09|publisher=National Park Service] cite web|url=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/93001619.pdf Holland Tunnel--Accompanying 12 photos, from 1927-1992.] |1.20 MiB |title=National Historic Landmark Nomination|date=1993-09|publisher=National Park Service]

History

The concept for what would become the Holland Tunnel was developed in 1906 by a joint commission between New York and New Jersey. The commission initially considered building a bridge for cost reasons, but this plan was abandoned in favor of a tunnel in 1913 when it was determined that the cost of land for accessways to a suitably raised bridge would be prohibitive (a height of 200 feet (60 m) was considered the minimum necessary to avoid interfering with shipping.) [http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/tunnels/html/holland_historical.html Holland Tunnel Historical Photos] , Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Accessed September 25, 2008.]

Over the next several years, a number of design proposals were evaluated for the new tunnel. The first two called for a single tube containing two levels of traffic. One, authored by engineer George Goethals specified that traffic on each level would travel in a different direction. The other, by the firm Jacobs and Davies, called for a slightly different tube diameter, with an "express" level and a level for slower traffic. Both designs were eventually passed over in favor of a new type of design proposed by engineer Clifford Milburn Holland, in which two separate tubes would each contain two lanes both going in the same direction. Holland's proposal was adopted, and he was named Chief Engineer of the project. [ [http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/holland/ Holland Tunnel Historic Overview] , nycroads.com. Accessed September 25, 2008.]

Work on the tunnel, officially designated the "Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel Project", began on March 31, 1922, with a gang of workers starting digging at the corner of Canal Street and West Street. [Staff. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E4DA1639EF3ABC4950DFB5668389639EDE "WORK BEGINS TODAY ON JERSEY TUNNEL; First Stroke of a Pick to Be Made at Canal and West Streets. MATERIAL ALREADY BOUGHT $19,331,725 Contract Signed, Start to Be Made Immediately on Foundation. EXPECT TO FINISH ON TIME Excavating on Jersey Side to Be Begun as Soon as City Ordinances Are Passed."] , "The New York Times", March 31, 1922. Accessed September 25, 2008.] On October 27, 1924, the day before the two halves of the tunnel were scheduled to be linked, 41-year-old Holland died of a heart attack in a sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan, attributed by individuals cited in "The New York Times" to the stress he endured overseeing the tunnel's construction. "Holing through" ceremonies scheduled for that day, in which President Calvin Coolidge would have remotely set off an explosion to connect the two sides of the tunnel, were canceled out of respect for Holland's death. [Staff. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00E11F63C5B12738DDDA10A94D8415B848EF1D3 "C. M. Holland Dies After Breakdown"] , "The New York Times", October 28, 1924. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Holland was succeeded by Milton H. Freeman, who died of pneumonia in March 1925, after several months heading the job. [Staff. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30811F63B5C17738DDDAF0A94DB405B858EF1D3 "Another Engineer Dies on Big Tunnel Job; M.H. Freeman Is Victim of Acute Pneumonia"] , "The New York Times", March 26, 1925. Accessed September 25, 2008.] After Freeman's death, the position was occupied by Ole Singstad, who oversaw the completion of the tunnel and designed its pioneering ventilation system. [Krebs, Albin. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D17F939581B7493CBA91789D95F4D8685F9 "Ole Singstad, 87, Master Builder Of Underwater Tunnels, Is Dead; Ole Singstad, Master of Tunnels, Dies"] , "The New York Times", December 9, 1969. Accessed September 26, 2008.]

Construction

Tunnel construction required workers to spend large amounts of time under high pressure of up to 47½ pounds per square inch, which was necessary to prevent river water from entering prior to completion of the tubes. "Sandhogs", as they were termed, entered the tunnel through a series of airlocks, and could only remain inside of the tunnel for a designated time period. On exiting the tunnel, the workers were required to undergo controlled decompression in order to avoid the bends, a condition in which nitrogen bubbles form in the blood. Fortunately, no workers died as a result of decompression sickness: the works involved "756,000 decompressions of mencoming out of the compressed air workings," which resulted in 528 cases of the bends, none fatal. [citation
last=Singstad
first=Ole
journal=Norwegian-American Technical Journal
volume=1
issue=3
pages=1-3, 10
year=1928
month=September] [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NORWAY/2003-05/1051896513 Saga in Steel and Concrete, pp. 181-190] ]

Ventilation system

The most significant design aspect of the Holland Tunnel is its pioneering ventilation system. At the time of its construction, underwater tunnels were a well-established part of civil engineering, but no long vehicular tunnel had been built: the technical hurdle was the ventilation required to evacuate the carbon monoxide emissions, which would otherwise asphyxiate the drivers. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NORWAY/2003-05/1051983030 Saga in Steel and Concrete, pp. 191–202] ] [citation
title=Studies and Methods Adopted for Ventilating the Holland Vehicular Tunnels
periodical=Engineering News-Record
volume=98
pages=934-939
date=1927-06-09] [citation
title=Ventilating the Holland Vehicular Tunnel
periodical=Heating and Ventilating Magazine
volume=23
issue=79
year=1926
month=August] [cite conference
first=Ole
last=Singstad
title=Ventilation of Vehicular Tunnels
booktitle=Proceedings of the World Engineering Congress
volume=9
pages=381-399] [citation
first=A. C.
last=Davis
title=Development of the ventilation system of the Holland Tunnel
periodical=Heating, Piping and Air Conditioning
volume=2
pages=866–874
year=1930
month=October] [citation
first1=A.C.
last1=Fieldner
first2=Y.
last2=Henderson
first3=J.W.
last3=Paul
last4=others
title=Ventilation of vehicular tunnels (Report of U.S. Bureau of Mines to New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission and New Jersey State Bridge and Tunnel Commission)
publisher=American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers
year=1927
month=February]

Operation

Completion of the tunnel took nearly seven years, and claimed the lives of fourteen workers. The tunnel opened on November 13, 1927, with President Coolidge pressing a golden lever that triggered American flags on both sides of the tunnel to separate. Vehicles were allowed to pass through the tunnel at one minute after midnight, with the widows of Chief Engineers Holland and Freeman in the second toll-paying vehicle. The tunnel was an immediate success. On its first day of operation, 51,694 vehicles passed through, paying a 50 cent toll per car (25 cents for a motorcycle and truck tolls of up to two dollars), which was intended to defray the tunnel's $48 million price tag. [Barron, James. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7DE173CF934A15755C0A962958260 "A Tunnel? Holland Named U.S. Historic Landmark."] , "The New York Times", June 27, 1994. Accessed September 25, 2008.] In 1931 the tunnel was passed to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which continues to operate it today. Excluding the initial $48 million in construction, the Port Authority notes $536,600,000 of cumulative capital investment as of December 31, 2005.

Horse-drawn vehicles have always been banned from the tunnel. A few months before the tunnel's opening, there were suggestions that pedestrians would be allowed to cross the tunnel if they paid a toll described as "not encouraging", but no further mention of this was ever made. [NY Times article 8-21-1927 page 10 ]

Recent changes

Between 2003 and 2006 the fire protection system in both tunnels was modernized. Temporary fire extinguishers were located in alcoves along the tunnel walls while the water supply was turned off. [ [http://www.panynj.gov/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=585 TRAFFIC ADVISORY - HOLLAND TUNNEL REHABILITATION WORK TO BEGIN MONDAY, OCTOBER 18] , Port Authority of New York and New Jersey press release, dated October 14, 2004. Accessed September 25, 2008.]

Accidents and terrorism

In 1949, a fire aboard a chemical truck caused enormous damage to the south tube of the tunnel. [Spiegel, Irving. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB081EFB3859157A93C6A8178ED85F4D8485F9 "Chaotic Scenes in Tunnel Described by the Injured; Views Inside the Holland Tunnel Following Chemical Explosion and Series of Fires Yesterday"] , "The New York Times", May 14, 1949. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Although nobody was killed, the fire resulted in 66 injuries and nearly $600,000 worth of damage to the structure. As a result, the Port Authority adopted a strict series of rules on the transportation of hazardous materials within the tunnel.

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the tunnel remained closed to all but emergency traffic for nearly a month. When it reopened on October 15, 2001, strict new regulations were enacted banning single-occupant vehicles and trucks from entering the tunnel. [Gilbert Pat R. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-47570572.html "TRAFFIC'S A BREEZE AS HOLLAND TUNNEL REOPENS"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", October 16, 2001. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Single occupant vehicles were prohibited in the tunnel on weekday mornings between 6:00 and 10:00 until November 17, 2003, when the restrictions were lifted. [ [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/manrivercross03.pdf 2003 Manhattan River Crossings] , New York City. Accessed September 26, 2008.] Commercial vehicles are prohibited from entering New York City via the Holland Tunnel. Commercial vehicles in classes 1, 2 and 3 (two and three-axle single-unit trucks) are permitted to travel in the westbound direction (to NJ) at all times. The ban on tractor-trailers and larger trucks in classes 4, 5 and 6 (four, five and six-axle trucks) remains in effect in both directions at all times. The ban on trailers and towed vehicles remains in effect in both directions at all times.

Cell phone service was turned off after the 2005 terrorist bombings in London, but reinstated a few days later.

On July 7, 2006, a plot to detonate explosives in the tunnels of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (initially said to be a plot to bomb the Holland Tunnel) was uncovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a later update of the source [ [http://inbrief.threatswatch.org/2006/07/foreign-plot-to-bomb-holland-t/ Foreign Plot to Bomb Holland Tunnel Thwarted - Updated] , Threat Watch] , the plot was clarified to be aimed not at the Holland Tunnel but at the PATH rail system between New York and New Jersey.

Cultural references

*Although the tunnel in the 1996 Sylvester Stallone movie "Daylight" is never named (potentially to avoid libel accusations by the Port Authority), the movie is set in a tunnel based on the Holland Tunnel. [Fleischman, Joan. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D1AFE35E6E36&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "SLY: 'MOVE' HOLLAND TUNNEL TO MIAMI -- FOR MOVIE"] , "The Miami Herald", April 7, 1995. Accessed September 26, 2008.]
*The Holland Tunnel is mentioned in the film "Something Wild" (1986) just before the protagonists drive through it.
*In the film "Working Girl" (1988) it is mentioned that a truck got stuck in the Holland Tunnel.
*A stolen car in a park near the Holland Tunnel in New Jersey provides a plot point in US Marshals (1998).
*In The War Within (2005) a character notes that the road they are on takes them right into the Holland Tunnel.
*In the remake Alfie (2004) the title character notes that a particular female is beautifully preserved and has cleavage like the Holland Tunnel. [ [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/a/alfie-script-transcript-jude-law.html Alfie Script - Dialogue Transcript] , Script-o-rama. Accessed September 26, 2008. "I mean, have a look. Beautifully preserved. And cleavage like the Holland Tunnel."]
*In an episode of "I Love Lucy", it is mentioned that Lucy, while learning to drive, attempted to make a U-turn in the Holland Tunnel, thus blocking traffic all the way to East Orange, New Jersey. [Gates, Anita. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E3DD1E3CF937A25753C1A9679C8B63 "Television/Radio: The Good, the Bad, the Lucy: A Legacy of Laughs; Endlessly Lovable, But Damaging, Too"] , "The New York Times", October 14, 2001. Accessed September 26, 2008.]
*In the video game "Grand Theft Auto III", the Holland Tunnel is parodied, named 'Porter Tunnel.'
*Singer John Phillips recorded a song called "Holland Tunnel" on his "John, Wolf King of L.A." album. [Appleyard, Brian. [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article689547.ece "Comment: Hit the road, Jack"] , "The Times", July 23, 2006. Accessed September 26, 2008. "John Phillips’s Holland Tunnel is a wry plea to his girl to use the ultimate road trip, westward across the whole country, to get back to him, the Wolfking, lounging in LA."]
*In the film "The Day After Tomorrow", the tunnel is sealed off due to wide spread flooding.
*The electronica trio The New Deal recorded a song called "Holland Tunnel" on their live album, "This Is Live".
*The New York based No Wave outfit impLOG recorded a 12 inch track called "Holland Tunnel Drive".
*In the 1953 horror film "The Deadly Mantis" the giant insect is finally killed with nerve gas when it hides in Holland Tunnel.
*Hoboken, New Jersey alternative rock band Yo La Tengo's 1997 album "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One" features a photo of the New York entrance to the Holland Tunnel on the cover.

References

External links

* [http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/tunnels/html/holland.html Port Authority of New York & New Jersey: Holland Tunnel]
* [http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/holland/ Holland Tunnel from NYCRoads.com]
Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Hudson River
bridge = Holland Tunnel
bridge signs =
upstream = Uptown Hudson Tubes
upstream signs = "PATH"
downstream = Downtown Hudson Tubes
downstream signs = "PATH"