Long Dock Tunnel
History
The tunnel was built under the oversight of engineer James P. Kirkwood and was started in 1856 and opened in 1861, costing 57 lives to build. The new tunnel formed became route for both the Erie and Delaware-Lackawanna railroads to reach their respective stations, the Pavonia Terminal and Hoboken Terminal, located on the North River (Hudson River).
The tunnel runs 4,311 feet (1,314 m) long, 23 feet (7.0 m) high, and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. Eight shafts, 70–90 feet (21–27 m) in depth were sunk down from atop the Palisades to reach the tunnel.
In 1910 the Erie Railroad replaced the Long Dock Tunnel with the Erie Cut, though primarily for use by passenger trains. Erie freight trains continued to use the tunnel as do freight railroads to this day.
The northwestern portal is just northwest of where Kennedy Boulevard passes over New Jersey State Route 139. The southeastern portal is near State Route 139 between where it intersects Palisade Avenue and passes over Interstate 78. Part of the viaduct which carried trains to the yards and the terminals is parallel to Boyle Plaza (the entrance and exit roads for the Holland Tunnel) and now serves as an access road to Newport as the current 11th Street.
See also
- List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey
- List of Hudson County railroad terminals
- Timeline of Jersey City area railroads
- List of ferries across the Hudson River to New York City
References
- ^ "Bergen Hill Tunnel and the Waldo Yard Tunnel: Introduction". bergenwaldo.blogspot.nl.
- ^ "OPENING OF THE BERGEN TUNNEL.; Journey into the Bowels of New-Jersey". The New York Times. 8 February 1861.
- ^ Adams, A.G. (1996). The Hudson Through the Years. Fordham University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780823216772. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
- ^ "Opening of the Bergen Tunnel Journey in to the Bowels of New Jersey". The New York Times. February 8, 1861. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
- ^ Adams, A.G. (1996). The Hudson River Guidebook. Fordham University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780823216796. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
- ^ "NEW-JERSEY RAILROADS.; The Northern Railroad Some of the Projected and Completed Improvements Emigrant Travel and Its Peculiarities" (PDF). The New York Times. September 5, 1871.
- ^ Ripley, George; and Dana, Charles Anderson. "The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge", via Google Books, 1861, D. Appleton & Company. p. 738.