"This very complex project had to be executed with no impediment to the flow of the 125,000 cars per day; not a simple task."

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Prime consultant, DiGeronimo P.A. provided assistance to the Port Authority of NY & NJ in designing the Lincoln Tunnel Emergency Garage Extension. This $2.6 million construction project includes the building of a garage facility for emergency vehicles which are used for tunnel emergencies.

DiGeronimo supported the Port Authority in meeting the challenge of maintaining the historic nature of one of the first tunnels constructed in America while protecting the police officers and personnel housed in this facility from a high concentration of carbon monoxide. This is achieved by building an exterior fresh air duct which rises above the tunnel portal and collects fresh air high above at street level. This fresh air duct is encased in a fluted granite columnar structure matching the two adjacent granite columnar structures. The originals are constructed in solid concrete as light towers. A replica of the light fixture alights the top of the fresh air duct granite columnar structure.

Better traffic awareness is achieved through the construction of a radio room which allows motorists to receive normal AM radio broadcasting. A control room handles the traffic and signal control at the tunnel.

The two original Lincoln Tunnel passageways date from 1941. Two grand towers were added in 1957 when a third south tube was built. In 1990, DiGeronimo designed a third ventilation tower using archived drawings to create a new but historically correct construction.

The subsurface conditions are honeycombed with pedestrian passageways and electrical cables which run between New York and New Jersey. What is not bedrock is hollow tunnel or electrical duct bank. Blasting was not an option due to the delicacy of the tunnel structure itself and the many radio signals within. A sophisticated structural system was designed to bridge underground passageways yet use hand jacks only, chipping as little as possible.

This very complex project had to be executed with no impediment to the flow of the 125,000 cars per day; not a simple task, but DiGeronimo is used to challenges as displayed in their performance in the Lincoln Tunnel Emergency Garage Extension Project.

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