Clifford Milburn Holland
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Clifford Milburn Holland (March 13, 1883 – October 27, 1924) was an American civil engineer who oversaw the construction of a number of subway and automobile tunnels in New York City, and for whom the Holland Tunnel is named.
Life
Holland was born in Somerset, Massachusetts.<ref name= nydaily/> He was the only child of Edward John Holland and Lydia Frances Hood.<ref name= legends>Template:Cite book</ref> He attended Cambridge Latin School.<ref>Cambridge". The Boston Globe. January 25, 1902. p. 5.</ref> Holland graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in 1905 and a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1906.<ref name= legends/> On November 5, 1908, he married Anna Coolidge Davenport (1885–1973), who was originally from Watertown and had graduated from Radcliffe College.<ref>"Our Neighbors: Somerset". Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, Massachusetts). July 27, 1907. p. 5.</ref> They had four daughters.<ref name= windsor/>
Immediately after graduation, Holland began his career in New York City working as an assistant engineer on the construction of the Joralemon Street Tunnel. He then served as the engineer-in-charge of construction of the Clark Street Tunnel, 60th Street Tunnel, Montague Street Tunnel and the 14th Street Tunnel.<ref name="nydaily" /><ref name= serviceboard>"Engineers Changed By Service Board". The Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York). March 12, 1917. p. 4.</ref> 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.<ref name= formerly>"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.</ref> A protective cylinder was pushed into the tunnel, allowing workers to build a cast-iron lining.<ref name= formerly/>
Holland was the first chief engineer on the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel project, earning an annual salary of $10,000.<ref>"Former Somerset Man to Build a Tunnel". Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, Massachusetts). June 5, 1919. p. 12.</ref> Holland conducted experiments in a small tunnel in a coal mine in Bruceton, Pennsylvania, in order to determine how to safely and sufficiently vent vehicles' carbon monoxide out of the tunnel and keep the passengers safe.<ref name= serviceboard/> Holland designed four ventilation shafts that would bring Template:Convert of fresh air into the tunnel every minute.<ref name= serviceboard/> Construction on the tunnel began April 1, 1922, when Holland ceremoniously drove a pick into the ground at Canal and West streets in Manhattan.<ref>"Start Work on Tunnel for Vehicles Under Hudson". The Boston Globe. April 1, 1922. p. 2.</ref>
The stress and long hours working on the tunnel project caused him to have a nervous breakdown, and he went to a sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan, in order to recover.<ref name= nydaily/> On October 27, 1924, Holland died of a heart attack there, at the age of 41.<ref name= nydaily/> He died one day before the final charge of dynamite connected the two tunnels.<ref name= tube>"C. M. Holland, Tube Engineer, Honored at Services Here". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 30, 1924. p. 3.</ref> At the time of his death, he lived at 2416 Avenue J in Midwood, Brooklyn.<ref name= tube/> The funeral service was held at the Lefferts Place Chapel.<ref name= tube/> Milton Harvey Freeman took over as chief engineer on the project after Holland's death.<ref name= freeman>"Big News Briefly Told". Associated Press. Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey). March 26, 1925. p. 3.</ref> Freeman died five months later.<ref name= freeman/>
The project was renamed the Holland Tunnel in his memory by the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission and the New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission on its opening day, November 12, 1924, sixteen days after Holland's death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time it opened, the Holland Tunnel was the first vehicular tunnel in the United States and the fifth in the world.<ref>"Mile-Long Highway Under River". Albany Ledger (Albany, Missouri). November 24, 1927. p. 7.</ref>