5 ms·

The Tunnels of NYC's East Side Access Project

87 points by kevin_morrill 14y ago

adanto6840 14y ago
This is really cool, I was unaware of it prior to this article. For those like me who were hoping for more info about the project, the wikipedia entry is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access Update: Just found weekly photo status updates too -- wish all the larger government projects did something like this! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtacc-esa http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtacc-esa
- ajtaylor 14y ago
  I would have killed for pictures like this for the Big Dig in Boston! I lived in the North End for a year while it was going on, though sadly I never got to see pictures like these - only enduring the daily changing traffic patterns.
- jseliger 14y ago
  The Second Avenue subway is also under construction (finally!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway . It's been in various planning stages since 1929, and its absence is keenly felt by those of us living on the east side (in my case, First Avenue). If you're just interested in big works, take a look at the Highway 99 project in Seattle: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020537494_99tunnelpitxml.html http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020537494_99tunnelpi... .
- jonknee 14y ago
  That is pretty great. Too bad the same team isn't updating the project's website, it's ridiculously out of date (safe to say none of the budget overruns were spent on the PR campaign). http://www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/ http://www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/ Under project news: > "Excavation to create the caverns with in Grand Central Terminal are currently underway and have an estimated completion date of early 2012" Yea...
peteretep 14y ago
Anyone seen anything similar for Crossrail?
- peteretep 14y ago
  Shouldh'a used the Google: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/images/tunnelling/ http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/images/tunnelling/
arethuza 14y ago
The Gotthard Base Tunnel is also pretty impressive - under the Alps from Switzerland to Italy, at 57km it'll be the long rail tunnel in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel
betterunix 14y ago
Now if they could finally complete the 2nd Ave. subway...
- uptown 14y ago
  This is a great blog to follow the progress on that project: http://thelaunchbox.blogspot.com/ http://thelaunchbox.blogspot.com/
ajtaylor 14y ago
If I were to ever leave the world of software, I would want to become a civil engineer so I could design and build projects like these. The maze of tunnels, access ways, pits, support piping and machinery amazes me every single time. The freezing the ground technique was also used (pioneered?) on Boston's Big Dig for the tunnel under the Amtrak train lines. They also changed the supports for I-93 going through the North End, just like this project did, though I think it was on a larger scale due to the use of the slurry walls they first constructed. The other massive works project that's been going on for decades in NYC is water tunnel #3 [1]. It's been going since 1970 and is scheduled to finish in 2020. It will be the longest tunnel in the world at 60 miles (97 km) when it's completed. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Water_Tunnel_No._3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Water_Tunnel_No._...
- olegp 14y ago
  The ground freezing technique is 150 years old: http://www.burnsmcd.com/BenchMark/Article/Ground-Freezing http://www.burnsmcd.com/BenchMark/Article/Ground-Freezing I knew it was at least 30 years old since it was used in subway construction in Moscow around the time I was born but didn't realize it was quite that old.
  - ajtaylor 14y ago
    Huh, I had no idea! Everything I read about the Big Dig's use of it implied it was new. Or maybe the idea just got stuck in my head. You learn something new every day.
    - Anechoic 14y ago
      Soil freezing wasn't new when it was used on the Big Dig, but it was either the first time it was used in the USA, or it was the first time it was used on such a massive scale in the USA (similar to the use of slurry walls, which had been used in the USA, but not at that scale - in fact the Big Dig had to bring over German & French equipment along with German/French workers to run the slurry wall diggers since there was no one in the USA qualified to run the machines). One issue the Big Dig ran into with soil freezing was complications during the thaw process. The soil was frozen to that the project could horizontally "jack" precast tunnel pieces under existing Amtrak & MBTA railroad road tracks. When the freezing and tunnel jacking process was completed, the project let the soil "thaw", but the thawing takes years. During the thaw, there were settlement problems that caused the tracks to sink a noticeable amount. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems! (worked on the Big Dig as a consultant from 1998-2001)
bgruber 14y ago
yay, reblogging a flickr feed. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/tags/eastsideaccess/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/tags/eastsideaccess/
subsystem 14y ago
Whenever I see a US worksite I'm always surprised by the state of work wear. Strapped on hobby lights, cotton based jeans and hoodies, insufficient pockets, substandard florescents etc.
- Anechoic 14y ago
  Are you implying that there's something wrong with the state of work wear?
  - subsystem 14y ago
    Not so much the state of work wear as how US worker are equipped. For comparison here's some pictures of a similar project in Sweden: http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7608571102/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7608571102/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/6146534872/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/6146534872/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7241248288/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7241248288/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/8293896234/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/8293896234/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/4635119003/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/4635119003/in/photost...
    - Anechoic 14y ago
      You see US workers in similar getups in certain situations (usually workers involved in wet or messy work like concrete/slurry pumping, drilling etc or working in cold environments). I for one (having spent thousands of hours on construction sites) would prefer "cotton based jeans and hoodies" to those outfits in all but really colt & wet environments.
- dugmartin 14y ago
  Yeah, as someone that used to do a bit of caving seeing people working underground wearing cotton jeans is crazy.
rayiner 14y ago
I ride into grand central every morning to work and it never ceases to amaze me. Dozens of platforms underground for departing and arriving trains, all built 100 years ago under Manhattan. Coming down the Park Ave tunnel you can glimpse the old 59 street station that's now just an emergency exit and its all so damn cool.

87 points by kevin_morrill 14y ago

This is really cool, I was unaware of it prior to this article. For those like me who were hoping for more info about the project, the wikipedia entry is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access Update: Just found weekly photo status updates too -- wish all the larger government projects did something like this! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtacc-esa http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtacc-esa

ajtaylor 14y ago
I would have killed for pictures like this for the Big Dig in Boston! I lived in the North End for a year while it was going on, though sadly I never got to see pictures like these - only enduring the daily changing traffic patterns.
jseliger 14y ago
The Second Avenue subway is also under construction (finally!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway . It's been in various planning stages since 1929, and its absence is keenly felt by those of us living on the east side (in my case, First Avenue). If you're just interested in big works, take a look at the Highway 99 project in Seattle: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020537494_99tunnelpitxml.html http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020537494_99tunnelpi... .
jonknee 14y ago
That is pretty great. Too bad the same team isn't updating the project's website, it's ridiculously out of date (safe to say none of the budget overruns were spent on the PR campaign). http://www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/ http://www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/ Under project news: > "Excavation to create the caverns with in Grand Central Terminal are currently underway and have an estimated completion date of early 2012" Yea...

peteretep 14y ago

Anyone seen anything similar for Crossrail?

peteretep 14y ago
Shouldh'a used the Google: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/images/tunnelling/ http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/images/tunnelling/

arethuza 14y ago

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is also pretty impressive - under the Alps from Switzerland to Italy, at 57km it'll be the long rail tunnel in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel

betterunix 14y ago

Now if they could finally complete the 2nd Ave. subway...

uptown 14y ago
This is a great blog to follow the progress on that project: http://thelaunchbox.blogspot.com/ http://thelaunchbox.blogspot.com/

ajtaylor 14y ago

If I were to ever leave the world of software, I would want to become a civil engineer so I could design and build projects like these. The maze of tunnels, access ways, pits, support piping and machinery amazes me every single time. The freezing the ground technique was also used (pioneered?) on Boston's Big Dig for the tunnel under the Amtrak train lines. They also changed the supports for I-93 going through the North End, just like this project did, though I think it was on a larger scale due to the use of the slurry walls they first constructed. The other massive works project that's been going on for decades in NYC is water tunnel #3 [1]. It's been going since 1970 and is scheduled to finish in 2020. It will be the longest tunnel in the world at 60 miles (97 km) when it's completed. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Water_Tunnel_No._3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Water_Tunnel_No._...

olegp 14y ago
The ground freezing technique is 150 years old: http://www.burnsmcd.com/BenchMark/Article/Ground-Freezing http://www.burnsmcd.com/BenchMark/Article/Ground-Freezing I knew it was at least 30 years old since it was used in subway construction in Moscow around the time I was born but didn't realize it was quite that old.
- ajtaylor 14y ago
  Huh, I had no idea! Everything I read about the Big Dig's use of it implied it was new. Or maybe the idea just got stuck in my head. You learn something new every day.
  - Anechoic 14y ago
    Soil freezing wasn't new when it was used on the Big Dig, but it was either the first time it was used in the USA, or it was the first time it was used on such a massive scale in the USA (similar to the use of slurry walls, which had been used in the USA, but not at that scale - in fact the Big Dig had to bring over German & French equipment along with German/French workers to run the slurry wall diggers since there was no one in the USA qualified to run the machines). One issue the Big Dig ran into with soil freezing was complications during the thaw process. The soil was frozen to that the project could horizontally "jack" precast tunnel pieces under existing Amtrak & MBTA railroad road tracks. When the freezing and tunnel jacking process was completed, the project let the soil "thaw", but the thawing takes years. During the thaw, there were settlement problems that caused the tracks to sink a noticeable amount. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems! (worked on the Big Dig as a consultant from 1998-2001)

bgruber 14y ago

yay, reblogging a flickr feed. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/tags/eastsideaccess/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/tags/eastsideaccess/

subsystem 14y ago

Whenever I see a US worksite I'm always surprised by the state of work wear. Strapped on hobby lights, cotton based jeans and hoodies, insufficient pockets, substandard florescents etc.

Anechoic 14y ago
Are you implying that there's something wrong with the state of work wear?
- subsystem 14y ago
  Not so much the state of work wear as how US worker are equipped. For comparison here's some pictures of a similar project in Sweden: http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7608571102/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7608571102/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/6146534872/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/6146534872/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7241248288/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7241248288/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/8293896234/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/8293896234/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/4635119003/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/4635119003/in/photost...
  - Anechoic 14y ago
    You see US workers in similar getups in certain situations (usually workers involved in wet or messy work like concrete/slurry pumping, drilling etc or working in cold environments). I for one (having spent thousands of hours on construction sites) would prefer "cotton based jeans and hoodies" to those outfits in all but really colt & wet environments.
dugmartin 14y ago
Yeah, as someone that used to do a bit of caving seeing people working underground wearing cotton jeans is crazy.

rayiner 14y ago

I ride into grand central every morning to work and it never ceases to amaze me. Dozens of platforms underground for departing and arriving trains, all built 100 years ago under Manhattan. Coming down the Park Ave tunnel you can glimpse the old 59 street station that's now just an emergency exit and its all so damn cool.