Alf Hjort

Alf Hjort (12 October 1877 in Christiania, now Oslo – 12 December 1944 in New York) was a Norwegian electrical engineer who played a leading part in the planning and building of New York City's vast traffic system, including the construction of underground and underwater railroad and car tunnels, as well as the extensions of the city's metropolitan subway system in the first part of the 20th century.

Alf Hjort was a younger brother of oceanographer and marine zoologist Johan Hjort. Their parents were Johan S.A. Hjort, a professor of ophthalmology, and Elisabeth Falsen, of the Falsen family. After graduating from Oslo Gymnasium he went to Hannover in Germany to study mechanical and electrical engineering. After work periods in Berlin and London, Hjort came to the United States in 1904. 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, and Hjort's task was to oversee the planning and construction of the Pennsylvania Railroads Tunnels under the Hudson River, and the Long Island Railroad Tunnels under the East River. 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 New York City with water. In 1911, Hjort went to the Flinn Corporation of engineers and contractors, and served as this firm's chief engineer from 1929 to his death in 1944. Under his watch a string of New York City subway tunnel projects were planned and completed, e.g. the Battery–Brooklyn vehicular tunnel between the southern tip of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hjort was regarded as one of the outstanding authorities in the field of underwater tunnel construction.

Hjort was among the founders of the American–Scandinavian Society, and maintained close links to his native Norway during his 40 years in the United States.

References

* "Prominent Men of New York: Individual Biographic Studies", Historical Records, New York, 1945.