Alf Hjort (12 October 1877 – 12 December 1944) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

born, American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He played a leading part in the planning and construction of the underground and underwater railroad and car tunnels of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, as well as the extensions of the city's metropolitan subway system.

Background

Alf Hjort was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was a younger brother of Norwegian

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

and

marine zoologist 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...

Johan Hjort Johan Hjort (18 February 1869, in Christiania – 7 October 1948, in Oslo) was a Norwegian fisheries scientist, marine zoologist, and oceanographer. He was among the most prominent and influential marine zoologists of his time. The early year ...

. Their parents were Johan S.A. Hjort (1835-1905), a professor of

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

, and Elisabeth Falsen (1849-1922) of the

Falsen Falsen, also ''de Falsen'', is a Danish and Norwegian noble family. History The family descends from Falle Pedersen (1625–1702), who lived on the farm Østrup on Sealand, Denmark. The Falsen family share the same roots as the famous Scanian fa ...

family. After graduating from Oslo Gymnasium, he went to

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

in Germany to study mechanical and electrical engineering. After work periods in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Hjort came to the United States in 1904.

Career

From 1904 to 1909 he served as chief engineer of Pearson & Sons, one of the largest and best known contracting and construction firms at the time. Hjort's task was to oversee the planning and construction of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

s Tunnels under the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, and the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

Tunnels under the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

. This was one of the greatest engineering and construction enterprises ever undertaken anywhere in the world up to that time. After the completion of these projects, Hjort was engaged with the Degnon Contracting Company of New York City, in the task of building part of the Catskill Water Supply Project, which was used to supply

with water. In 1911, Hjort went to Flinn-O'Rourke Construction Company and served as this firm's chief engineer from 1929 until his death in New York during 1944. Under his watch a string of

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

tunnel projects were planned and completed, most notably the

Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and commonly referred to as the Battery Tunnel or Battery Park Tunnel, is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn with the Battery in Manhattan ...

between the southern tip of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. In 1911, Hjort was among the founders of

The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway ...

in New York City. He also maintained close links to his native Norway during his 40 years in the United States.

References

Primary sources

*Bjork, Kenneth ''Saga In Steel And Concrete - Norwegian Engineers In America'' (Northfield, Minnesota: Norwegian-American Historical Association. 1947) *Pfeiffer, Henry ''Prominent Men of New York: Individual Biographic Studies with Character Portraits. Volume 1'' (New York City: Historical Records, Inc. 1940)

External links

American Scandinavian Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hjort, Alf Norwegian electrical engineers 1877 births 1944 deaths Norwegian emigrants to the United States Engineers from Oslo