THE HOLLAND TUNNEL GRAY AND HAGEN 607 



That the construction of the Holhind Tunnel was no easy task is 

 evidenced by the f^voat increase in both time and money required for 

 its completion. The original plans called for an expenditure of ap- 

 proximately $28,000,000 and for completion in 1924, or three and one- 

 half years. Actual expentlitures have run 50 per cent greater, and as 

 this is written, the opening will not be until the fall of 1927. 



Yet this is not surprising. Although the shield method of con- 

 struction has been described in this story as if it were a relatively 

 simple operation, many difficulties had to be overcome in bringing 

 tlie work to a successful conclusion. The proceedings involved in tlie 

 taking of real property at entrances and exits, changes in the grades 

 of streets, the closing of a portion of Eleventh Street in Jersey City, 

 negotiations with the railroads at the Jersey City end for the acquisi- 

 tion of parts of tlie railroad yards, all took time. It was not always 

 easy to harmonize the views of the State Commissions. Alterations 

 necessarily had to be made in the preliminary plans as further infor- 

 mation resulted from investigation and experience. 



That the undertaking cost the lives of its first two chief engineers, 

 not from accident, but from the drain on their vital energy, is perhaps 

 the most striking evidence of the magnitude of the undertaking. 



