A River Tunnel at Chicago
excerpt
from New York Times, 26 Feb 1869
At a meeting of the Polytechnic Branch
of the American Institute last night, Mr. STETSON
exhibited a diagram of the tunnel under the river at Chicago, and gave
an interesting account of its construction and present condition. He
said that most persons confounded the two tunnels—the one
under the lake and that under the river. The lake tunnel*, however, was
filled with water and was merely a suction-pipe. The river tunnel, just
completed, was 220 feet in length, and, with its approaches, 1,610
feet. It consisted of three arches, two for carriages and one for foot
passengers. Each arch was thirteen feet in height and about ten feet in
width. They were lighted by gas, floored with the Nicolson pavement,
and presented quite a tasteful appearance. No difficulty had been
experienced in regard to ventilation. In fact the draught through the
tunnel was, if anything, rather too strong. The tunnel had been
constructed by means of coffer dams and the open ditch plan. The top of
the arches of the tunnel now formed the bottom of the river.
Some difficulty had been experienced with regard to leakage,
but that was gradually being overcome... In constructing the Chicago
tunnel, and also the Thames tunnel in London, the workmen had only to
deal with tenacious clay. The Chicago tunnel was an experiment, and, in
his opinion, a successful one. Its cost he had not ascertained. The
materials used in its construction were brick and stone...Text excerpted from "A River Tunnel at Chicago," The New York Times, 26 Feb 1869, page 8.
Image unrelated to article, shows an approach to the Washington Street Tunnel under the Chicago River, from a stereo viewer card of unknown date. (source)
[ * The lake tunnel was built to provide an intake for the city's water supply at a distance into the lake away from the sewage-polluted waters at the shore.]
See also:
- Today in Science History event description for 13 Nov 1866, when work began on the Washington Street Tunnel under the Chicago River, which was the first tunnel under a river in the U.S.
