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[[File:(King1893NYC) pg944 FLOOD ROCK EXPLOSION AT HELL GATE IN OCTOBER, 1885. RAND DRILL COMPANY'S DRILLS AND EXPLOSIVES.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The 1885 explosion]]
In the late 1860s, after the Civil War, Congress realized the military importance of having easily navigable waterways, and charged the Army Corps of Engineers with clearing Hell Gate. Newton estimated that the operation would cost about half as much as the annual losses in shipping. The 2021 book by Thomas Barthel titled ''Opening the East River: John Newton and the Blasting of Hell Gate'' traces Newton's work on this project from 1866 to 1885. On September 24, 1876, the Corps used {{convert|50000|lb|kg}} of explosives to blast the rocks, which was followed by further blasting.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rendering Hell-Gate Rocks; The Submarine Mine Exploded |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0CE3D81630E53ABC4D51DFBF66838D669FDE |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 25, 1876 |page=1 |accessdate=November 19, 2011}}</ref> The process was started by excavating under Hallets reef from [[Astoria, Queens|Astoria]]. [[Cornish people|Cornish]] miners, assisted by steam drills, dug galleries under the reef, which were then interconnected. They later drilled holes for explosives. A patent was issued for the detonating device. After the explosion, the rock debris was [[Dredging|dredged]] and dropped into a deep part of the river. This was not repeated at the later Flood Rock explosion.
On October 10, 1885, the Corps carried out the largest explosion in this process, annihilating Flood Rock with {{convert|300000|lb|kg}} of explosives.<ref name=nycgovparks>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=9756 |title=Mill Rock Island |publisher=[[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] |date=June 6, 2001 |accessdate=April 12, 2009}}</ref> The blast was felt as far away as [[Princeton, New Jersey]] (50 miles).<ref name=nycgovparks/> It sent a [[geyser]] of water {{convert|250|ft|m}} in the air.<ref name=Whitt>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE3D71631F931A35755C0A9609C8B63 |title=The East River is Cleaner Now. The Water Birds Say So. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 2, 2006 |accessdate=April 12, 2009 |last=Whitt |first=Toni}}</ref> The blast has been described as "the largest planned explosion before testing began for the atomic bomb",<ref name=Whitt/> although the detonation at the [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Battle of Messines]] in 1917 was larger. Some of the rubble from the detonation was used in 1890 to fill the gap between Great Mill Rock and Little Mill Rock, merging the two islands into a single island, [[Mill Rock]].<ref name=nycgovparks/>
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==References==
Barthel, Thomas. ''Opening the East River: John Newton and the Blasting of Hell Gate''. McFarland, 2021.
'''Informational notes'''
{{reflist|group=notes}}
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