The Roof Beneath the Road
Boston used the cut-and-cover method to build America's first subway, creating a new level for streetcars beneath crowded streets.
Play the quiz as a gameBy the 1890s, Boston's downtown streets were crowded with people, wagons, and streetcars. A streetcar ran on rails laid in the road, so it could get stuck behind other traffic. Adding more streetcars did not create more street space. City leaders needed a way to move many passengers without squeezing more vehicles into the same crowded roads.
Their solution was to move some streetcars underground. Construction began in 1895. Instead of digging a deep tunnel entirely below the surface, crews opened the ground from above. This method, called cut and cover, would create a tunnel close beneath the surface. Parts of the route also passed beneath Boston Common, a public park.
Cut and Cover
Before digging, crews had to find water pipes, gas pipes, and sewers. The space below a street was not empty! These services had to keep working while the subway was built. Workers moved some pipes out of the way and supported others in place. Planning around these hidden obstacles helped prevent damage and interruptions to service.
Next, workers dug a long trench, an open cut in the ground. They supported its sides to keep the earth from sliding in. Inside the opening, crews built the tunnel's floor and walls. Steel beams helped hold up a strong roof. The roof had an important job: carrying the weight of the ground and traffic above.
Once the roof was ready, workers covered it with earth and restored the surface. Restored means brought back to a useful condition. Tracks and electric wires inside the tunnel allowed streetcars to travel below. Electric motors powered these cars, so they did not need steam engines that would fill the tunnel with smoke.
Two Levels of Travel
On September 1, 1897, the first section opened between the Public Garden and Park Street. Boston had opened the first subway in the United States. Passengers rode electric streetcars underground rather than the long subway trains many riders know today. Moving these cars below the surface gave them a route around street traffic. It also freed some space above.
Imagine a drawing with one side of the street sliced away. Its caption could read, "Two routes in one space." The picture would show traffic on the road, a strong roof underneath, and streetcars below. Boston had not made its streets wider. It had added another level for travel.