The Cobble Hill Tunnel (popularly the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel) of the Long Island Rail Road is an abandoned railroad tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. When open, it

The Cobble Hill Tunnel

The Cobble Hill Tunnel (popularly the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel) of the Long Island Rail Road is an abandoned railroad tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. When open, it ran for about 2,517 feet (767 m) between Columbia Street and Boerum Place. It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America. Some also claim it to be the oldest subway tunnel in the world, as it was built by the cut and cover method under a city street, specifically for the purposes of improved public safety, attaining grade separation and enhanced railway operations.

History

Construction began in May 1844. The tunnel opened for use on December 3, 1844, but was not completely finished until late Spring 1845. It was built mainly to satisfy public demand for creation of a grade-separated right of way for the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later Long Island Rail Road) on its way to the South Ferry at the foot of Atlantic Street (later Atlantic Avenue), where passengers could catch ferries to Manhattan. The construction of the tunnel also lowered the LIRR's grade through Cobble Hill.

In exchange for building the tunnel, the City of Brooklyn granted the B&J permission to operate its steam locomotives on Atlantic Street west of Fifth Avenue (then Parmentier's Garden/Gowanus Lane), all the way to Brooklyn's South Ferry (the present location of Brooklyn's Pier 7). Prior to the tunnel being built, the LIRR's western terminus was Atlantic Street at Clinton Street. Train cars were hauled by teams of horses along Atlantic Street from Clinton Street to Parmentier's Garden, where steam locomotives were attached. While the tunnel was being built, the railroad operated to a temporary terminal at Pacific Street and Henry Street.

The Cobble Hill Tunnel was part of the first rail link between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. The railroad connected Lower Manhattan via the South Ferry to Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island, where a ferry connected to Stonington, Connecticut to a rail link that continued to Boston. This avoided some difficult construction of bridges over the rivers of southern Connecticut. In 1848, the New York and New Haven Railroad Line was completed through Connecticut, providing a direct, faster rail connection from New York City to Boston. The Cobble Hill Tunnel and the Long Island Railroad remained the primary means of access to most of central Long Island from Manhattan and New York City.

As built, the tunnel was 21 feet (6.4 m) wide, 17 feet (5.2 m) high and 2,517 feet (767 m) long.

Insofar as it carried railroad trains under a city street, some have claimed it be the world's first subway tunnel, though, unlike a modern rapid transit subway, it had no stations. The ends of the tunnel were sealed in the fall of 1861. The similar Murray Hill Tunnel on the New York and Harlem Railroad was built as an open cut around 1836, and roofed over around the 1850s, and is in use for automobile traffic.

Rediscovery

Having fallen from public notice, the tunnel was rediscovered in 1981 by then 18-year-old Robert "Bob" Diamond, who entered from a manhole he located at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, crawle d a distance of 70 feet (21 m) underground through a filled-in section of tunnel less than two feet high, and located the bulkhead wall that sealed off the main portion of the tunnel. With the assistance of a Brooklyn Union Gas Co. (now National Grid) engineering crew, he then broke through the massive concrete bulkhead wall, which is several feet thick. Diamond thereby opened access to the main portion of the tunnel, and began to popularize the tunnel as an antiquity. He led tours of its interior through December 17, 2010. The tunnel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.

Vocabulary

Satisfy - meet the expectations, needs, or desires of (someone)

Providing - on the condition or understanding that

To seal - fasten or close securely

To roof - cover with a roof

Crawled - move forward on the hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground

To attain - succeed in achieving (something that one has worked for)

Enhance - intensify, increase, or further improve the quality, value, or extent of

Bulkhead - a dividing wall or barrier between separate compartments inside a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle.

To avoid - keep away from or stop oneself from doing (something)

Thereby - by that means; as a result of that

Summary

The Cobble Hill Tunnel (popularly the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel) of the Long Island Rail Road is an abandoned railroad tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. When open, it ran for about 2,517 feet (767 m) between Columbia Street and Boerum Place.

It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America.

Construction began in May 1844. The tunnel opened for use on December 3, 1844, but was not completely finished until late Spring 1845.

The Cobble Hill Tunnel was part of the first rail link between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts.

As built, the tunnel was 21 feet (6.4 m) wide, 17 feet (5.2 m) high and 2,517 feet (767 m) long.

Insofar as it carried railroad trains under a city street, some have claimed it be the world's first subway tunnel, though, unlike a modern rapid transit subway, it had no stations. The ends of the tunnel were sealed in the fall of 1861. The similar Murray Hill Tunnel on the New York and Harlem Railroad was built as an open cut around 1836, and roofed over around the 1850s, and is in use for automobile traffic.

Having fallen from public notice, the tunnel was rediscovered in 1981 by then 18-year-old Robert "Bob" Diamond.

Diamond opened access to the main portion of the tunnel, and began to popularize the tunnel as an antiquity. He led tours of its interior through December 17, 2010. The tunnel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-05