Sep 26 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2679 -

Sale 2679 - Lot 50

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

BOARD OF ESTIMATE


Boxed set of contract drawings for the abandoned Narrows Tunnel project. 1922-1925.
7 volumes, including 2 duplicates, each with 3 or 4 leaves of printed front matter and between 17 and 64 printed contract drawings (many of them folding). Quarto, 28x20 cm; 11x8 inches, original cloth, minor wear; minor wear to contents; most with inked or perforated library stamps. In a later slipcase.

Most New Yorkers know the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, completed in 1964, which connects Brooklyn with Staten Island. Less well known is the never-completed Narrows Tunnel, a.k.a. the Saint George Tunnel or Staten Island Tunnel or Hylan Tunnel, which would have been the first crossing of the Narrows. It was designed for rail freight and/or subway passengers. The sand hogs began their work in 1923, and the tunnel extended 150 feet west from Brooklyn before squabbling between the freight and subway factions scuttled the project forever. The sealed tunnel mouth is located beneath Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.

Included here are the printed drawings for Contract No. 2 (Shore Road Shaft, Borough of Brooklyn); Contract No. 3 (South Street Shaft at St. George, Borough of Staten Island); Contracts 4-A, 4-T, and 4-C, superseded (New York Bay Section--Trench Method); Contract No. 4 (New York Bay Section--Shield Method), plus a duplicate; and Contract No. 4A (New York Bay Section--Trench Method), plus a duplicate.