The New York Rapid-transit Subway

Proceedings.] DISCUSSION ON NEW YORK SUBWAY. 85 as the range of tide. In 40 feet of water, with a range of tide of 20 Mr. Fitz- feet, coffer-dams might be unsuitable ; but at the Harlem River the range was only 4 to 5 feet, so that if there were good ground at the bottom, he did not see why the work should not have been done in an ordinary coffer-dam. He also wished to pay tribute to the extreme care taken in passing Trinity Church in Lower Broadway. Anyone who knew the work done there could only express apprecia- tion of the care taken to prevent subsidence or injury of any kind in that very fine building, with its spire 285 feet high. With regard to crossing the East River, he understood there had been very con- siderable difficulty there, owing to the shield getting out of line and to the distortion of the lining, and he believed that a great deal of the lining had had to be taken out and made good: perhaps the Author would say a little on that subject in his reply. Mr. Fitzmaurice would have liked to go into many other matters, such as the experi- ments with reinforced concrete, for which the thanks of The Institu- tion were specially due to the Author, but for want of time he would confine himself to reference to one or two matters with regard to cost. The Author stated that the cost ranged from £200,000 to £250,000 per mile of track. Mr. Fitzmaurice would like to know how that cost had been arrived at, because the contract was rather a curious one. The Rapid-Transit Company had to build a subway and to work it for 50 years, and during working they had to pay 4 per cent, interest on the cost of construction, and 1 per cent, for a sinking-fund, so that they had it in their power either to put the money into the construction or to spend it on the working. The effect of that arrange- ment was particularly marked in the tenders for the second section, extending from the City Hall into Brooklyn. The estimate for that work was $8,000,000 to $10,000,000; the tender which the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company sent in was $2,000,000, so that naturally in that particular case they expected to recoup them- selves later on. As a matter of fact, they also sent in another tender, for $3,000,000, and they further said that if that were accepted they would be prepared to build a new line under Broadway, from Forty- second Street to Fourteenth Street, about 14 mile in length, for $100,000____probably about 5 per cent, of the actual cost of construc- tion. The Brooklyn Rapid-Transit Railroad Company sent in a bid of $7,000,000. As the estimated cost of the work for which tenders were invited was $8,000,000 to $10,000,000, it would be seen that all the bids were less than the actual cost, the bids of the Rapid- Transit Subway Construction Company being especially low. After consideration the Board decided to accept the bid of the latter Com- pany for $2,000,000, the other bid being too irregular to be entertained.