The Wall Street Journal and The Daily produced the above video on the Second Ave. Subway, and although it’s mostly just an overview of the project, the scenes are, as always, awe-inspiring. The reporters call it the most complex construction project in New York City, and that’s not far from the truth.
Meanwhile, the other Ben with a Second Ave. Subway-related site took a walk through the Contract One tubes recently and came back with some dramatic still photos from the construction site. It’s quite something to see how the work has progress since the TBM launched in May of 2010 and since my last visit in March of 2011. Just four years and 8.5 months of construction left, if all goes according to schedule.
6 comments
Where do TBM’s go when they’re done their run? I was disappointed to learn that the ones for the East Side Access will just be driven into the rock and left to rot. Seems to me there are 3 “end of life” expenses for a TBM: 1) Abandon (capital equipment written off) 2) Disassemble and re-deploy (lots of labor, but recovers capital costs) or 3) Keep going (no new capital but even more labor).
Would a for profit business really just park a TBM and let it rot? Maybe if it paid too much for labor it would.
Only the East Side Access TBM was buried. See… For a TBM, a Park Avenue resting place 14 stories deep.
The TBMs used for the Flushing line extension and SAS have already been removed and sent on to their next jobs.
Are there any plans to someday extend ESA south to downtown and then either west to NJ or east under the East River giving LIRR a loop via Atlantic Avenue. If so, by how much does abandoning the TBB increase the cost of such a future project?
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Given the size of the SAS construction project(and hopefully future sections to come), was there ever any thoughts of incorporating access to the 63rd street tunnel lower level to allow for transportion out of excavated debris and transportation in of materials and equipment to and from the Sunnyside yards in Queens? I recognize that the tunnel is part of the ESA project, but the portion from 2nd avenue east could have been completed on an accelerated basis especially as the river tunnel portion was already in place. This would allowed more of the project to be done without impacting Manhattan above street level and keeping more of the construction equipment out of Manhattan traffic.
Have subway lines ever been used to transport construction materials used in the extension of the lines? Can the city use the subway lines as desired without FRA interferance as long as they do not connect to anything outside the system?
epair or replacement of defective parts,