Holland Tunnel
Holland Tunnel entrance, New Jersey side
Official name	Clifford Milburn Holland Tunnel
Carries	4 lanes of I-78
Crosses	Hudson River
Locale	Jersey City, New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City
Maintained by	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Total length	2,608. Route description Pennsylvania See also Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania I-78 begins at a directional-T interchange with Interstate The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami Jersey City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York The City of New York The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ( PANYNJ) is a bi-state Port district, established in 1921 (as the Port of New York Authority) through 48 meters (8,558 feet) (westbound) 2,551. 48 meters (8,371 feet) (eastbound)
Vertical clearance	12 feet 6 inches
AADT	93,300[1]
Opening date	November 13, 1927
Toll	$8. Annual average daily traffic, abbrevated AADT, is a measure used primarily in Transportation planning and transportation engineering. Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 00 car (eastbound only, into Manhattan) ($6. 00 off-peak E-ZPass)

Clifford Milburn Holland, 1919

Holland Tunnel entrance from New York City. E-ZPass is an Electronic toll collection system used on most tolled Roads Bridges and Tunnels in the northeastern United States

Traveling through the Holland Tunnel, from Manhattan to New Jersey.

New York Land Ventilation Building south side

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. A tunnel is an underground passageway The definition of what constitutes a tunnel is not universally agreed upon The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York The City of New York Jersey City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Route description Pennsylvania See also Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania I-78 begins at a directional-T interchange with Interstate The tunnel was originally known as the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel or the Canal Street Tunnel and is one of two highway tunnels under the Hudson River (the Lincoln Tunnel is the other). The Lincoln Tunnel is a 15 mile (24 km long Tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey and the borough

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. Clifford Milburn Holland ( March 13, 1883 - October 7, 1924) was born in Somerset Massachusetts. (Famed tunnel designer Ole Singstad finished Holland's work. Ole Singstad ( June 29[[ 882]] – December 8[[ 969]] was a Norwegian-American Civil engineer, who pioneered underwater vehicular Tunnels notably ) 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. Ventilation is the intentional movement of Air from outside a building to the inside

The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes, each providing two lanes in a twenty foot roadway width. The north tube is 8,558 ft (2,608 m) from end to end, while the south tube is slightly shorter at 8,371 ft (2,551 m). 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 is located on the New Jersey side of the tunnel. A toll road, (also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway, especially if it is constructed to Freeway standards E-ZPass is an Electronic toll collection system used on most tolled Roads Bridges and Tunnels in the northeastern United States As of 2003, the charge for passage from New Jersey to New York is $8 for cars and $7 for motorcycles (there is no toll in the opposite direction). MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records. According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the tunnel, traffic for 2002 totalled 15,764,000 vehicles, 33,926,000 vehicles in 2004, and 33,964,000 vehicles in 2005. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ( PANYNJ) is a bi-state Port district, established in 1921 (as the Port of New York Authority) through The Tunnel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the ^[2][3][4]

History

The concept for what would become the Holland Tunnel was developed in 1906 by a joint commission between New York and New Jersey. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. 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. )

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. George Washington Goethals ( June 29, 1858 - January 21, 1928) was a United States Army officer and Civil engineer 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. Clifford Milburn Holland ( March 13, 1883 - October 7, 1924) was born in Somerset Massachusetts. Holland's proposal was adopted, and he was named Chief Engineer of the project.

Work on the tunnel, officially designated the "Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel Project", began in October 1920. In 1924, the day before the two halves of the tunnel were scheduled to be linked, 41-year-old Holland died during a tonsillectomy at a health center in Battle Creek, Michigan. A tonsillectomy is a surgical procedure in which the Tonsils are removed Holland was succeeded by Milton H. Freeman, who also died after several months on the job. After Freeman's death, the position was occupied by Ole Singstad, who oversaw the completion of the tunnel and designed its pioneering ventilation system. Ole Singstad ( June 29[[ 882]] – December 8[[ 969]] was a Norwegian-American Civil engineer, who pioneered underwater vehicular Tunnels notably

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. The pound per square inch or more accurately pound-force per square inch (symbol psi or lbf/in² or lbf/in²) is a unit of "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. Sandhog is the Slang term given to urban Miners Construction workers who work underground on a variety of excavation projects An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a Pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of Pressure in the 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. Decompression sickness (DCS, the diver’s disease, the bends, caisson disease is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person Fortunately, no workers died as a result of decompression sickness: the works involved "756,000 decompressions of men coming out of the compressed air workings," which resulted in 528 cases of the bends, none fatal. ^{[5] [6]}

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. Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO is a colorless odorless tasteless yet highly toxic Gas. ^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Operation

Completion of the tunnel took nearly seven years, and claimed the lives of fourteen workers. Opened on November 13, 1927, the tunnel was an immediate success. Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On its first day of operation, 51,694 vehicles passed through, each paying a 50 cent toll, which was intended to defray the tunnel's $48 million price tag. In 1931 the tunnel was passed to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which continues to operate it today. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ( PANYNJ) is a bi-state Port district, established in 1921 (as the Port of New York Authority) through Excluding the initial $48 million in construction, the Port Authority notes $536,600,000 of cumulative capital investment as of December 31, 2005. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

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. ^[11]

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. A fire extinguisher is an Active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires often in emergency situations ^[12]

Accidents and terrorism

In 1949, a fire aboard a chemical truck caused enormous damage to the south tube of the tunnel. The Holland Tunnel fire occurred on the morning of Friday May 13, 1949, in a Hazardous materials truck passing through the Holland Tunnel under 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. A dangerous good is any Solid, Liquid, or Gas that can harm people other living Organisms property or the environment

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. The World Trade Center in New York City, United States (sometimes informally the WTC or Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan When it reopened, strict new regulations were enacted banning single-occupant vehicles and trucks from entering the tunnel. A single-occupant vehicle (SOV is a privately operated Vehicle whose only occupant is the driver This article is about the semi-truck For the North American use of the word see Pickup truck. It wasn't until November 17, 2003, that the single occupancy vehicle restrictions were lifted. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Tractor trailers and trucks in classes four, five, and six (four, five, and six-axle trucks) are still prohibited from using the tunnel. Cell phone service was turned off after the 2005 terrorist bombings in London, but reinstated a few days later. The 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings) were a series of coordinated bomb blasts that hit London's public transport system during London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

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. Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. On July 7, 2006, the FBI announced that they had foiled a plot that was in its "talking phase" by foreign militants to detonate Explosives in The Port Authority Trans-Hudson ( PATH) is a Rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York with New Jersey, and providing service In a later update of the source ^[13], 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. The year 1996 in film involved some significant events Major releases this year included Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6 1946 is an American Actor, director, producer and Screenwriter. Daylight is a 1996 Disaster film, starring Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Dan Hedaya, and Danielle Harris
• The Holland Tunnel is mentioned in the film Something Wild (1986) just before the protagonists drive through it. Something Wild is a 1986 comedy / Action film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels
• 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. I Love Lucy is an American Situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, USA As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 69824
• In the video game Grand Theft Auto III, the Holland Tunnel is parodied, named 'Porter Tunnel. Grand Theft Auto III (abbreviated as GTA III) is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and Video game '
• Singer John Phillips recorded a song called Holland Tunnel on his John, Wolf King of L. A. album
• In the film The Day After Tomorrow, the tunnel is sealed off due to wide spread flooding. The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 apocalyptic science-fiction film that depicts the catastrophic effects of both Global warming and Global cooling
• 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. No Wave was a short-lived but influential Art music, Film, Performance art, Video and Contemporary art scene that had its beginnings
• In the 1953 horror film The Deadly Mantis the giant insect is finally killed with nerve gas when it hides in Holland Tunnel. The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 Science fiction film produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures.

References

External links

• Port Authority of New York & New Jersey: Holland Tunnel
• Holland Tunnel from NYCRoads.com