Clifford Milburn Holland (March 13, 1883 – October 27, 1924) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

who oversaw the construction of a number of subway and automobile tunnels in

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 ...

, and for whom the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...

is named.

Life

Holland was born in

Somerset, Massachusetts Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,303 at the 2020 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel ...

. He was the only child of Edward John Holland and Lydia Frances Hood. He attended Cambridge Latin School. Holland graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1905 and a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

in 1906. On November 5, 1908, he married Anna Coolidge Davenport (1885–1973), who was originally from

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

and had graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

. They had four daughters. Immediately after graduation, Holland began his career in New York City working as an assistant engineer on the construction of the

Joralemon Street Tunnel The Joralemon Street Tunnel, originally the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, is a pair of tubes carrying the IRT Lexington Avenue Line () of the New York City Subway under the East River between Bowling Green Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights ...

. He then served as the engineer-in-charge of construction of the

Clark Street Tunnel Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

60th Street Tunnel The 60th Street Tunnel carries the of the New York City Subway under the East River and Roosevelt Island between Manhattan and Queens. History Construction and opening The tunnel was built as part of the Dual Contracts, which expanded the ...

Montague Street Tunnel The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N us ...

and the

14th Street Tunnel 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number. ...

.Engineers Changed By Service Board
. ''The Daily Standard Union'' (Brooklyn, New York). March 12, 1917. p. 4. Each one was built by boring out a tunnel under the river bed, while keeping it filled with compressed air so the water would not seep into it.Has Charges of Tunnel Work: C. M. Holland, Formerly of Somerset, to Construct Tubes Under East River
. ''Fall River Daily Evening News'' (Fall River, Massachusetts). October 28, 1914. p. 7. A cylinder was pushed into the tunnel to protect the workers and allowing the workers to build a cast-iron lining. Holland was the first chief engineer on 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 ...

Vehicular Tunnel project, earning an annual salary of $10,000. Holland conducted experiments in a small tunnel in a coal mine in

Bruceton, Pennsylvania Bruceton is an unincorporated suburb of Pittsburgh within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan region. Its western half is part of South Park Township and its eastern half is part of Je ...

, in order to determine how to safely and sufficiently vent vehicles' carbon monoxide out of the tunnel and keep the passengers safe. Holland designed four ventilation shafts that would bring of fresh air into the tunnel every minute. Construction on the tunnel began April 1, 1922, when Holland ceremoniously drove a pick into the ground at

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

streets in

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 ...

. The stress and long hours working on the tunnel project caused him to have a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, and he went to a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

, in order to recover. On October 27, 1924, Holland died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

there, at the age of 41. He died one day before the final charge of dynamite connected the two tunnels.C. M. Holland, Tube Engineer, Honored at Services Here
. ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle''. October 30, 1924. p. 3. At the time of his death, he lived at 2416 Avenue J in

Midwood, Brooklyn Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, a ...

. The funeral service was held at the Lefferts Place Chapel. Milton Harvey Freeman took over as chief engineer on the project after Holland's death.Big News Briefly Told
. ''Associated Press''. Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey). March 26, 1925. p. 3. Freeman died five months later. The project was renamed the

in his memory by the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission and the

New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized b ...

on its opening day, November 12, 1924, sixteen days after Holland's death. At the time it opened, the Holland Tunnel was the first vehicular tunnel in the United States and the fifth in the world.Mile-Long Highway Under River
. ''Albany Ledger'' (Albany, Missouri). November 24, 1927. p. 7.

References

External links

ASCE : Clifford Milburn Holland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Clifford Milburn 1883 births 1924 deaths American civil engineers Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Holland Tunnel People from Midwood, Brooklyn People from Somerset, Massachusetts