The Tunnels of NYC's East Side Access Project | Hacker News Reader

The Tunnels of NYC's East Side Access Project

theatlantic.com

87 pointskevin_morrill23 comments

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._...

The ground freezing technique is 150 years old: 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.

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.

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)

The extensive use of slurry walls was one of my favorite parts of the Big Dig. I remember reading about all the European equipment and people who came over. I have an awesome coffee table book about the Big Dig that was given to me by friends who still live in the North End.

Two of the highlights of my time in Boston were the tunnel walk beginning at the southern end of the I-93 table, and talking across the Zakim Bridge before it opened up. I've got 8mm tapes somewhere of video I took on those days. Who ever thought up that idea was a PR genius. :)

(BTW I'm jealous you got to work on the project)

(BTW I'm jealous you got to work on the project)

The great majority of my work was at night (nighttime noise patrols). Looking back on it, I learned a lot about construction in general and the Big Dig in particular, but at the time it was a pretty miserable experience. And Big Dig workers did tell me about Bova's in the North End which helped passed the time.

But I have stories. So many stories. However, none that I want to relate with my name attached. :)

Ahh, Bova's! I lived about 3 blocks from there. They had the most amazing pastries, plus these huge rectangular pizza(?) slices for cheap. If you walked by in the wee hours of the morning, the smell of the bread baking was intoxicating.

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

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

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.

The Second Avenue subway is also under construction (finally!): 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_99tunnelpi... .

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/

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...

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.

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

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.

Are you implying that there's something wrong with the state of work wear?

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/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/6146534872/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/7241248288/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/8293896234/in/photost... http://www.flickr.com/photos/citybanan/4635119003/in/photost...

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.

Yeah, as someone that used to do a bit of caving seeing people working underground wearing cotton jeans is crazy.

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

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

yay, reblogging a flickr feed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/tags/eastsideaccess/

Anyone seen anything similar for Crossrail?

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

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