Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

==== Land acquisition and finalization of plans ====
[[File:Hell Gate Bridge being constructed, New York City LCCN95501274.jpg|thumb|The main span's arch, as ultimately approved]]
During the late 1900s, the NH and PRR acquired land for the bridge's [[Right-of-way (property access)|right-of-way]].<ref name="p572229590">{{cite news |date=March 9, 1909 |title=Bridge Over Hell Gate: New Haven and P. R. R. Officials Discuss Connection |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|572229590}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 29, 1909 |title=Pushing Plans for Hell Gate Bridge; Pennsylvania and New Haven Officials Confer on the Connecting Line |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/03/29/archives/pushing-plans-for-hell-gate-bridge-pennsylvania-and-new-haven.html |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226220222/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/03/29/archives/pushing-plans-for-hell-gate-bridge-pennsylvania-and-new-haven.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The first house in the bridge's right-of-way was relocated at the beginning of 1908.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 15, 1908 |title=First Work on the Connecting Railway |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-first-work-on-the-connecting/142162544/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=6 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226202947/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-first-work-on-the-connecting/142162544/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=January 15, 1908 |title=Big House on Its Travels |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-big-house-on-it/142162564/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=5 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226202948/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-big-house-on-it/142162564/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Pennsylvania Railroad announced in December 1908 that, as soon as [[Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)|Pennsylvania Station]] in Manhattan was completed, the railroad would begin constructing the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 21, 1908 |title=P. R. R.'s Bridge Plans: Three Mile Structure Will Join Long Island to Port Morris Over Hell Gate |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-p-r-rs-bridge-plans/142156415/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=10 |id={{ProQuest|572172508}} |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226191134/https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-p-r-rs-bridge-plans/142156415/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n142156268">{{Cite news |date=December 21, 1908 |title=70,000-Ton Bridge to Span 3 Streams |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-70000-ton-brid/142156268/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=2 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226191124/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-70000-ton-brid/142156268/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=December 21, 1908 |title=Bridge Will Be Longest in World |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-bridge-will-be-lo/142156367/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=Press and Sun-Bulletin |pages=1 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226191128/https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-bridge-will-be-lo/142156367/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge was to cost up to $20 million.{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1908|value=20|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="n142156268" /> By early 1909, the NH had acquired all of the necessary land for the Bronx approach, while the PRR was still acquiring land in Queens for both the passenger and freight lines.<ref name="p572229590" /> The PRR agreed to buy the last piece of land for the Queens approach that July,<ref>{{cite web |date=July 31, 1909 |title=N. Y. Connecting R. R. Plans |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-n-y-connectin/142176227/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |page=22 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226232142/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-n-y-connectin/142176227/ |url-status=live}}</ref> at which point the cost of the bridge had increased to $25 million.{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1909|value=25|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref>{{cite web |date=April 17, 1909 |title=The Connecting Railroad |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-connecting/142175148/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |page=26 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226232151/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-connecting/142175148/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The NYCR's engineers prepared new plans for the main span's piers the same year.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 25, 1909 |title=Connecting Bridge Plan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-connecting-brid/142176104/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |page=6 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226232202/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-connecting-brid/142176104/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=September 26, 1909 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Plans; Engineers Will Try Again to Please Municipal Art Commission. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/09/26/archives/hell-gate-bridge-plans-engineers-will-try-again-to-please-municipal.html |access-date=February 25, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225191738/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/09/26/archives/hell-gate-bridge-plans-engineers-will-try-again-to-please-municipal.html |url-status=live}}</ref> That December, the PRR and NH agreed to share the cost of the bridge's construction.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 6, 1909 |title=To Push New York Connecting Road: Will Join New Haven System to the Pennsylvania |work=The Hartford Courant |page=1 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|555686444}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |date=December 6, 1909 |title=Work to Begin on N.Y.C.R.R. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-work-to-begin-o/142176321/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |page=2 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226232202/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-work-to-begin-o/142176321/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hell Gate Bridge was to be the fifth bridge across the East River (after the [[Brooklyn Bridge|Brooklyn]], [[Manhattan Bridge|Manhattan]], [[Williamsburg Bridge|Williamsburg]], and [[Queensboro Bridge|Queensboro]] bridges), as well as the first built by a private company rather than the city government.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 8, 1909 |title=Proposed Bridge Will Have Arch 1,000 Feet Long 220 Feet High Fifth Structure Spanning River |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/08/08/archives/proposed-bridge-will-have-arch-1000-feet-long-220-feet-high-fifth.html |access-date=February 27, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227012754/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/08/08/archives/proposed-bridge-will-have-arch-1000-feet-long-220-feet-high-fifth.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

By early 1910, the plans for the arch's piers were being revised,<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 27, 1910 |title=To Preserve Bronx River; Board of Trade Takes Steps to Secure Map for Proposed Parkway. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/02/27/archives/to-preserve-bronx-river-board-of-trade-takes-steps-to-secure-map.html |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228023420/https://www.nytimes.com/1910/02/27/archives/to-preserve-bronx-river-board-of-trade-takes-steps-to-secure-map.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=February 26, 1910 |title=The Connecting Railroad |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-connecting/142264739/ |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=15 |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228023420/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-connecting/142264739/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and surveyors were studying the route of the bridge and its approaches.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1910 |title=Engineers at Work on Connecting Road |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-engineers-at-work-on-connect/142263731/ |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=5 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228023422/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-engineers-at-work-on-connect/142263731/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=March 2, 1910 |title=Work Soon to Start on Bridge Over Hell Gate |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-work-soon-to-st/142263751/ |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=7 |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228023421/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-work-soon-to-st/142263751/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The plans for the steelwork were revised the same year to accommodate a heavier type of [[Track bed|trackbed]].<ref name="Ammann p. 1672">{{harvnb|Ammann|1918|ps=.|page=1672}}</ref> The PRR, NH, and LIRR were concurrently finalizing contracts for the construction of the NYCR line, which had commenced in mid-1910.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1911 |title=Pennsylvania-New Haven Link and Its Traffic Significance |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wall-street-journal-pennsylvania-new/142373929/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |pages=2 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229192718/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wall-street-journal-pennsylvania-new/142373929/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The revised plans for the main span were not submitted to the Municipal Art Commission until early 1911,<ref name="n142367701">{{Cite news |date=March 24, 1911 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Begun |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-hell-gate-bridge-begun/142367701/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Sun |pages=5 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173845/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-hell-gate-bridge-begun/142367701/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and a contract for the bridge's steel had still not been awarded.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 3, 1911 |title=Big Steel Orders Pending.: Pennsylvania Soon to Close Contracts for Hell Gate Bridge. |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=5 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|145129401}}}}</ref> The PRR took [[Title (property)|title]] to the last remaining land lots in Queens in June 1911.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 4, 1911 |title=Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-hell-gate-bridge/142373054/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=77 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173846/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-hell-gate-bridge/142373054/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=June 3, 1911 |title=To Span Hell Gate |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-span-hell-ga/142367180/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=7 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173850/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-span-hell-ga/142367180/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of the year, the designs for the Bronx Kill and Little Hell Gate spans were still being revised,<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 10, 1911 |title=Steel Arch Bridge Over the East River, New York |magazine=Railway Age Gazette |page=956 |volume=51 |issue=19 |id={{ProQuest|895747481}}}}</ref> and land condemnation for the bridge was nearly finished.<ref name="n142371629">{{Cite news |date=December 16, 1911 |title=Greatest of All Railroad Bridges at Hell Gate a Link in New England-Western Railroad Route |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-greatest-of-all-railroad-bri/142371629/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=18 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173842/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-greatest-of-all-railroad-bri/142371629/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Lindenthal estimated in late 1911 that the bridge would cost $18 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1911|value=18|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} and be completed in 1914.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1911 |title=Huge Span Ready in 1914 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-huge-span-ready/142371727/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=25 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173848/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-huge-span-ready/142371727/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1911 |title=Huge Span Ready in 1914 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-huge-span-ready/142367807/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=27 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229173844/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-huge-span-ready/142367807/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Municipal Art Commission ultimately approved the revised plans.<ref name="n142388040" />