Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Plant

The plant installed by the John Shields Construction Company, and taken over by Mr. Bradley, was composed very largely of second-hand material, and eventually most of it had to be replaced. Insufficient and inefficient plant and delay in installation were largely responsible for the small progress made by the Shields Company, and Mr. Bradley’s endeavor to utilize this plant not only caused much delay during the first 8 or 10 months after he started work, but also involved large expense.

Power Plant.—At Weehawken the plant installed by the Shields Company consisted of three old locomotive boilers, each having a nominal capacity of about 125 h.p., and one Rand and one Ingersoll-Sergeant compressor, each of a rated capacity of about 1,250 cu. ft. of free air per min. compressed to 100 lb.

To this Mr. Bradley added two more second-hand locomotive boilers, and another Rand compressor of the same type and capacity as the first. The theoretical steam capacity of each of the five old locomotive boilers was about 4,250 lb. per hour, or a total capacity of 21,250 lb. per hour.

Theoretically, the demand on this steam was:

		Pounds per hour.
Three compressors, about 5,600 lb. per hour each		16,800
One dynamo	About	1,000
One 500-gal. pump	″	1,000
One hoisting engine for elevators	″	2,000
Total		20,800

Actually, there was considerable deficiency of steam when an endeavor was made to work the three compressors at their full capacity. A separate boiler was afterward installed to run the hoisting engine for the elevators and the pumps, thus leaving a requirement of only approximately 18,000 lb. of steam per hour, but even this was beyond the capacity of the boilers, especially as one was almost always out of commission.

The two Rand compressors were 24 by 24 by 30-in., straight-line, one-stage, steam-driven, with a nominal capacity of 1,250 cu. ft. of free air per min. at 80 rev. per min. The Ingersoll-Sergeant was of similar type and capacity. Therefore, the theoretical quantity available was 3,750 cu. ft. of free air per min.

The theoretical air requirements (as taken from manufacturers’ catalogues) were:

	Cubic feet of free air per minute.
20 Rand slugger drills (12 by 174)	2,088
2 Little Giant shovels (taking air two-thirds of the time)	1,100
Total	3,188

This estimate, based on the assumption (given in the catalogues) that the drills would be working about three-fifths of the time, and the shovels about two-thirds of the time, left apparently an ample margin between the full capacity of the compressors and the requirements for the drills; as a matter of fact, however, it was seldom that more than 80 lb. of air was available, and the pressure often dropped to 60 or 50 lb. at the compressors. During the time this plant was in use the greatest distance to the drills was about 1,500 ft.

As this plant proved to be entirely inadequate to the demands, an arrangement was made with the O’Rourke Construction Company on August 17th, 1906, whereby they agreed to supplement the air supply by 1,000 cu. ft. of free air per min. at 100 lb. pressure. This arrangement was not altogether satisfactory, and finally (on December 5th, 1906) an arrangement was made with the same company to supply air up to 4,000 cu. ft. of free air per min. at 100 lb., and the old plant was shut down.

The new plant had been in use previously in the construction of the River Tunnels. The air from it was compressed to 40 lb. by low-pressure machines, one being used all the time and two when necessary. These machines were built by the Ingersoll-Sergeant Company, the engines being of the Corliss duplex type, cross-compound steam, with simple duplex air cylinders, each compressor having a capacity of nearly 4,000 cu. ft. of free air per min. This air, at 40 lb., was delivered to an Ingersoll-Sergeant high-pressure machine, having Corliss cross-compound engines, 14 by 26 by 36-in., with air cylinders of the piston inlet type, 13¼ by 36-in., which compressed it to 100 lb. The capacity of this latter machine, taking air at normal pressure, is 920 cu. ft. of free air per min. working at 85 rev. per min.; by taking the air at 40 lb., and working at a somewhat higher speed, this machine alone supplied all the air used at the Weehawken end (approximately 4,000 ft.) from December, 1906, to November, 1907, and, with very few exceptions, the pressure was steadily maintained at from 90 to 100 lb., there being no break-down of any kind.

At Hackensack the plant taken over by Mr. Bradley consisted of six old locomotive boilers and four Rand compressors, all of the same type as those at Weehawken. To this he added two second-hand marine boilers, each of a stated capacity of about 350 h.p., and two more Rand compressors of the same type and capacity as the others, making the total theoretical steam power available approximately 1,450 h.p., with a compressor capacity of approximately 7,500 cu. ft. of free air per min., equal to about 1,500 h.p., allowing for 15% of loss.

Nowhere near the theoretical steam power was ever developed from the boilers. The tubes of the old locomotive boilers were filled with mud in many cases, and were always leaking. The marine boilers were not properly installed to give the best results, and it was seldom possible to work more than four compressors at once, or to keep the air pressure at the power-house much greater than from 70 to 80 lb. at any time.

This plant had been built by the Shields Company on the meadows alongside the Erie and New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroads, and the foundations were not made sufficiently strong to resist the effect of the vibration caused by the passing trains. It was impossible to keep the steam connections tight, and there was not only the loss of steam due to leaky joints, but positive danger of one of the main steam lines breaking entirely. After attempting to operate this plant for nearly 5 months, Mr. Bradley determined to abandon the site and the boilers, and build a new plant, farther back from the railroad, on solid ground, in such a position that a spur track could be built to a coal trestle in front of the boilers.

Two pairs of Stirling boilers, with a total capacity of 2,000 h.p., were installed. As a rule, at times of maximum demand, three of the boilers were in use; after the Central Shaft was stopped, two were generally sufficient, until, toward the latter part of the excavation, the losses in the transmission of the air made it necessary to keep three going.

Eight compressors (the six old ones with two brought from Weehawken), were installed in the new power-house. All were of the same type, namely, Rand, straight-line, steam-driven, 24 by 24 by 30-in., each with a nominal capacity of 1,250 cu. ft. of free air per min. Seven of these were generally worked to their full capacity in order to keep up the necessary supply of air.

The maximum requirements of air at this end were primarily estimated as follows:

Central Shaft, four headings	24 drills.
Hackensack, two working faces	20 drills.
Total	44 drills.

		Cubic feet of free air per minute.
44	Slugger drills (25 by 174) require	4,350
2	Steam shovels	1,600
	Pumps and machine-shop, say	1,000
4	Hoisting engines, placing concrete	2,000
4	Derricks	2,000
	Total	10,950

The theoretical capacity of the whole eight compressors was:

1250 × 8 = 10,000 cu. ft. of free air per min.

It was considered that not more than two-thirds of the above equipment would be working at the same time; the actual requirement, therefore, was taken at about 8,000 cu. ft. of free air per min., thus leaving a margin of one spare compressor.

As actually worked out, there were probably never more than eight drills working at any one time at the Central Shaft, and this work was entirely suspended in June, 1907, before there was any demand for power in connection with the tunnel lining. The heaviest actual requirement, therefore, was approximately as follows: