Highway Under the Hudson

Jackson (former historian, Historic American Engineering Record) provides the first in-depth history of the creation of this famous tunnel built in the 1920s, a monumental undertaking designed to facilitate moving people and goods under the Hudson River and still an essential passage between Manhattan and the rest of the country. His vivid account features a colorful cast of characters—from politicians to hundreds of engineers, businesspeople, local citizens, and especially the "sandhogs" who had the dangerous job of actually digging the tunnel. Jackson considers the real hero the tunnel's first chief engineer, Clifford Holland, who worked tirelessly for its completion against nearly insurmountable odds but died at age 41 before it opened. Fittingly, the tunnel was then named after him. Readers learn here of the extensive research that went into creating the tunnel's ventilation system, which successfully eliminated lethal exhaust gases, enabling the construction of future tunnels.