4 ms·

So, there are two of those deep underground water tunnels, one which runs down from the Bronx through Manhattan and another that runs from the Bronx through Que

So, there are two of those deep underground water tunnels, one which runs down from the Bronx through Manhattan and another that runs from the Bronx through Queens and Brooklyn. These tunnels were completed in 1917 and 1935 respectively. How they managed to do this then is beyond me. Currently a third tunnel is being built and apparently it's "the largest construction project in New York history". The project was begun in 1970 and won't finish until 2020. It cost 6 billion. When the third tunnel comes online, it will allow for the other two tunnels to be shut down for repairs for the first time in their history. Scenes from Die Hard were filmed in Tunnel 3. This is big, long-term stuff folks. Makes me feel kind of proud of civilization.

jontas 14y ago
The way the work is done is mind blowing[0]. The divers have to go so deep they need to live in helium tanks for more than a month, to make sure that their blood is sufficiently saturated with the gas. The helium is the only way they can dive deep enough, and yes, it does make their voices high pitched the entire time they are in there. [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/23tunnel.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/23tunnel.html?pag...
- jakeonthemove 14y ago
  That's amazing - I wonder how the work is progressing now? I didn't even know you could breathe any inert gas as long as it has enough oxygen in it until I read this article...
DanBC 14y ago
It is an amazing achievement. 3 men per mile died digging tunnel number 1 - 25% of the workers. (http://www.flypmedia.com/content/life-underground http://www.flypmedia.com/content/life-underground) >Generations of sandhogs have accepted anonymity and danger as part of the job: 25 percent of those working on a tunnel in 1890 lost their lives; during a three-year stretch excavating Tunnel No. 2, 60 died. That’s three men for every mile of tunnel. Although the introduction in 1970 of a 13,200-volt pneumatic drill that sinks 10-foot holes into the rock has reduced the dangers facing the sandhogs, excavation of the first 25 miles of City Water Tunnel No. 3 cost the lives of 23 workers.
hkmurakami 14y ago
To me, $6 billion seems really cheap for a project that seems pretty vital to the city's long term health, safety and security. Compare this to the ~$10 billion for the California High Speed Rail project, which doesn't seem nearly as important as this NYC project.
- tsunamifury 14y ago
  The importance of a project has little correlation with how expensive it is to execute.
  - RickHull 14y ago
    > The importance of a project has little correlation with how expensive it is to execute. Right, but it should be the primary factor on whether to undertake it or not.
  - jamesaguilar 14y ago
    This is not really true since cheap, highly important projects tend to get done pretty early on. That means the marginal project we are now embarking on does tend to have a relatively high cost-importance correlation.
- rayiner 14y ago
  Economically linking the SF Bay and LA metropolises could have tremendous importance over the next 100 years (which is the time scale a project like this should be evaluate on).
- rdl 14y ago
  I think you mean more like $100-150b for Cal-HSR.
- rwhitman 14y ago
  Having lived the last 2 years in NYC and the previous 7 in CA I can say that high speed rail is the more valuable project. The water here is fine, and no one is suffering because there isn't a 3rd tunnel. But the transportation situation in California is archaic and frustrating. Have you ever been trapped in traffic on the grapevine for 4 hours trying to get to/from LA? Or shelled out $300 for an hour flight to SFO? Its maddening. I drink water out of the tap here in NYC and it tastes great. California rail is a crisis, the water supply to NYC is not.
joering2 14y ago
What are those tunnels and whats the purpose behind them? Also -- why so deep -- 800ft? I think (and may be wrong) digging them shallower would be cheaper. 6B vs f.e. 4B -- that's a lot of cheddar. Also, someone mentioned "garbage" being underground citizen. I think that's wrong. While we have water, electricity and sewage running underground, the fact that garbage is not a part of this rail is really dissapointing. If you live upper west side, try to walk some broadway on a very hot day, before Thursday's garbage pickup. Your eyes will run wet from all the stink from garbage mountains packed everywhere. Literally there are streets where kids are forbidden to be outside because of all the smell and I assume airborne crap. Note, of course you won't see it downtown (the tourist area) where trash is picked up every day. Why there is no major garbage shute system across the city, no idea...
- fr0sty 14y ago
  > Also, someone mentioned "garbage" being underground citizen. I think that's wrong. It's true. Roosevelt Island has an underground network of "trash-sucking tubes". http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/trash-sucking-island/all/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/trash-sucking-island/...
  - msutherl 14y ago
    This is amazing! I had no idea that such a thing existed.
- msutherl 14y ago
  They're water tunnels. They deliver water from the Reservoir to the New York Metro Area. They're so deep underground for two reasons (1) imagine you have to build a tunnel that should last for the next 150 years – it needs to survive nuclear war, new technologies you've never heard of, meteor strikes – any risk of contamination is unacceptable and (2) more importantly, because the terminals of the tunnels are so low with respect to the reservoir, 95% of the pressure needed to deliver water from the reservoir to all of the buildings in New York is provided by gravity. Only 5% of the pressure comes from pumps. Which is pretty amazing.
- Spooky23 14y ago
nikcub 14y ago
A must-read on the water tunnel project underneath NY is David Grann's article for the New Yorker 'City of Water'[1]. Mind-blowing engineering project, especially the two old tunnels and their inability to repair them. It is one of the most read and most requested stories in the recent history of the New Yorker. The article was syndicated in his book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, which is worth a read[2]. [1] http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/09/01/030901fa_fact_grann http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/09/01/030901fa_fact_gr... [2] http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Sherlock-Holmes-Obsession/dp/0385517920 http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Sherlock-Holmes-Obsession/dp...

jontas 14y ago

The way the work is done is mind blowing[0]. The divers have to go so deep they need to live in helium tanks for more than a month, to make sure that their blood is sufficiently saturated with the gas. The helium is the only way they can dive deep enough, and yes, it does make their voices high pitched the entire time they are in there. [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/23tunnel.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/23tunnel.html?pag...

jakeonthemove 14y ago
That's amazing - I wonder how the work is progressing now? I didn't even know you could breathe any inert gas as long as it has enough oxygen in it until I read this article...

DanBC 14y ago

It is an amazing achievement. 3 men per mile died digging tunnel number 1 - 25% of the workers. (http://www.flypmedia.com/content/life-underground http://www.flypmedia.com/content/life-underground) >Generations of sandhogs have accepted anonymity and danger as part of the job: 25 percent of those working on a tunnel in 1890 lost their lives; during a three-year stretch excavating Tunnel No. 2, 60 died. That’s three men for every mile of tunnel. Although the introduction in 1970 of a 13,200-volt pneumatic drill that sinks 10-foot holes into the rock has reduced the dangers facing the sandhogs, excavation of the first 25 miles of City Water Tunnel No. 3 cost the lives of 23 workers.

hkmurakami 14y ago

To me, $6 billion seems really cheap for a project that seems pretty vital to the city's long term health, safety and security. Compare this to the ~$10 billion for the California High Speed Rail project, which doesn't seem nearly as important as this NYC project.

tsunamifury 14y ago
The importance of a project has little correlation with how expensive it is to execute.
- RickHull 14y ago
  > The importance of a project has little correlation with how expensive it is to execute. Right, but it should be the primary factor on whether to undertake it or not.
- jamesaguilar 14y ago
  This is not really true since cheap, highly important projects tend to get done pretty early on. That means the marginal project we are now embarking on does tend to have a relatively high cost-importance correlation.
rayiner 14y ago
Economically linking the SF Bay and LA metropolises could have tremendous importance over the next 100 years (which is the time scale a project like this should be evaluate on).
rdl 14y ago
I think you mean more like $100-150b for Cal-HSR.
rwhitman 14y ago
Having lived the last 2 years in NYC and the previous 7 in CA I can say that high speed rail is the more valuable project. The water here is fine, and no one is suffering because there isn't a 3rd tunnel. But the transportation situation in California is archaic and frustrating. Have you ever been trapped in traffic on the grapevine for 4 hours trying to get to/from LA? Or shelled out $300 for an hour flight to SFO? Its maddening. I drink water out of the tap here in NYC and it tastes great. California rail is a crisis, the water supply to NYC is not.

joering2 14y ago

What are those tunnels and whats the purpose behind them? Also -- why so deep -- 800ft? I think (and may be wrong) digging them shallower would be cheaper. 6B vs f.e. 4B -- that's a lot of cheddar. Also, someone mentioned "garbage" being underground citizen. I think that's wrong. While we have water, electricity and sewage running underground, the fact that garbage is not a part of this rail is really dissapointing. If you live upper west side, try to walk some broadway on a very hot day, before Thursday's garbage pickup. Your eyes will run wet from all the stink from garbage mountains packed everywhere. Literally there are streets where kids are forbidden to be outside because of all the smell and I assume airborne crap. Note, of course you won't see it downtown (the tourist area) where trash is picked up every day. Why there is no major garbage shute system across the city, no idea...

fr0sty 14y ago
> Also, someone mentioned "garbage" being underground citizen. I think that's wrong. It's true. Roosevelt Island has an underground network of "trash-sucking tubes". http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/trash-sucking-island/all/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/trash-sucking-island/...
- msutherl 14y ago
  This is amazing! I had no idea that such a thing existed.
msutherl 14y ago
They're water tunnels. They deliver water from the Reservoir to the New York Metro Area. They're so deep underground for two reasons (1) imagine you have to build a tunnel that should last for the next 150 years – it needs to survive nuclear war, new technologies you've never heard of, meteor strikes – any risk of contamination is unacceptable and (2) more importantly, because the terminals of the tunnels are so low with respect to the reservoir, 95% of the pressure needed to deliver water from the reservoir to all of the buildings in New York is provided by gravity. Only 5% of the pressure comes from pumps. Which is pretty amazing.
Spooky23 14y ago

nikcub 14y ago

A must-read on the water tunnel project underneath NY is David Grann's article for the New Yorker 'City of Water'[1]. Mind-blowing engineering project, especially the two old tunnels and their inability to repair them. It is one of the most read and most requested stories in the recent history of the New Yorker. The article was syndicated in his book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, which is worth a read[2]. [1] http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/09/01/030901fa_fact_grann http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/09/01/030901fa_fact_gr... [2] http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Sherlock-Holmes-Obsession/dp/0385517920 http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Sherlock-Holmes-Obsession/dp...