In building the arches, the night gang set the two ribs (one at the center and one at the forward end of the section to be built), placed the lagging on the sides, 4 or 5 ft. high, built the shoveling platform on the horizontal cross-braces of the ribs, and placed the traveling gantry in position for use. The forward end of the gantry (that is, the end farthest from the arch being built), as shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVI, was loaded with rock packing to be used as required. As the concrete was brought into the tunnel it was hoisted and dumped on the end of the gantry next the arch, and shoveled from there to the platform on the ribs and from there into place. The rock packing brought in during the day was dumped on the front or back end of the gantry, as was most convenient, and handled into the work in the intervals between batches of concrete. The concrete and rock packing, with the back-lagging and water-proofing, where these were used, were placed simultaneously, or nearly so, and brought up the sides together until the key was reached; the latter was then worked from the back toward the front. The key was usually made about 5 ft. wide, the lagging for this width was made 5 ft. long and put up in two sections. It was found to be more convenient to have the key of this width than narrower.
The method used in making the closures where two sections of the arch came together is shown by Fig. 17.
[Illustration: Fig. 17. [Full Page] SKETCH SHOWING METHOD OF MAKING ARCH CLOSURE CROSS-SECTION OF TUNNEL SHOWING JACK PARTLY EXTENDED LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF TUNNEL SHOWING JACK PARTLY EXTENDED PLAN OF BOX; END VIEW PLAN OF PLUNGER, BOTTOM OF BOX; END VIEW OF PLUNGER, JACK FULLY EXTENDED]
_Water-proofing._--As already pointed out, the original design for the lining of these tunnels provided for a brick arch. It was intended to cover this arch with water-proofing, this latter extending over the whole of the roof and down the sides as far as the bottom of the conduit lines. The water-proofing was to be placed against the sand-walls on the sides, up to the top of the side walls, Figs. 10 and 14. Over the arch, after being placed, it was to be protected by an armor course of brick, laid flat, the space between the brick and the excavation, which was required to be not less than 4 in. (and, as a matter of fact, was actually a great deal more), being filled with rock packing. Besides filling the space, this latter was designed to allow any water from the roof of the tunnel to find its way easily to the top of the sand-wall, from there being carried through the 4-in. cast-iron pipes, shown on Plate VIII[4] to the side ditches in the floor of the tunnel.