Wednesday, March 17, 2010

March 14, 2010


I ventured out on Sunday afternoon, into the wind and rain, to see if there had been any damage due to the Nor'easter that past through over the weekend. I also knew that it was time for a new posting, now that over three weeks has passed.



83rd - looking S

(I like how the orange construction signs reflect in the pool of standing water.)



near 71st - looking N



near 84th - looking N

I assume that the construction fence (shown above) was pushed over by high winds on Saturday night.



near the SE corner of 83rd - looking NW



72nd - looking N

In this shot, and the one below, you see the steel cover that has been built on top of the access shaft that is under construction near 72nd Street. The cover, I assume, is to keep debris (rock in particular) from flying up as they blast out the rock below.


btw. 72nd and 73rd - looking NW



btw. 72nd and 73rd

In this image you see a nice close up image of a set of blasting mats.



73rd - looking S



btw. 86th and 87th - looking S



between 86th and 87th - looking N
(a dog's eye view of the construction)



93rd - looking W

Umbrellas stuck in the fence.



SE corner of 94th - looking W

Six new concrete deck slabs.



btw. 94th & 95th - looking W

This machine is either coming or going -- meaning that it's either sitting here because it's waiting to be lowered to the surface below, or it's waiting to be removed from the launch box site.

It's also possible that it will be used for the construction north of 95th Street - but if that were the case I would not expect to see it sitting here, since the dividing line between the work zones (Contract 1 and Contract 2A) is 95th Street.



btw. 93rd and 94th - looking W

A small pile of Manhattan bedrock from the blasting zone below the decking.



btw. 95th and 96th - looking E

Another example of fencing that was blown over during the storm.



btw. 96th & 97th - looking E

At this location contractors have been welding large section of pipe together.



NW corner of 97th

A set of ball valves, manufactured in Italy by the firm Valvitalia, waiting to be installed. These would appear to be for use on high pressure gas lines.

One could ask the question -- why was it not possible to purchase these valves from an American manufacturer?



the NE corner of 97th

And finally, one can see that the end is near for the old Century Lumber yard building.

::


1752 Second Avenue (btw. 91st & 92nd)

This shop, which has been vacant since September 2008,
re-opened in early March as Vintage on 2nd.


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Here's a listing of the recent additions
to the right-hand column of The Launch Box

"Officials: MTA will handle 'fragile' 2nd avenue buildings with care"
amNewYork - 2/24/10

"Delays on Second Avenue Subway Side Project Closes E. 95th Street for Another Month"
DNAinfo - 2/23/10

More stimulus funds for SAS (and ESA)
2nd. Ave. Sagas - 3/9/10

The stores on Second Avenue between 82nd Street and 88th Street are open during construction
MTA SubTalk (a poster)


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A footnote:
My apologies for the delay since my lasting posting in February. My day job, and some vacation time, have distracted me over the past few weeks.


With the warmer weather I expect to return to a more regular schedule of postings.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Ben, as you seem to have better access to SAS contacts than most - can you explain or maybe relay message - Why are they Blasting (major blasts)at 8:30 PM - last night 3/18 - it was at 8:45PM. Seems to be once a day now but many residents have small children that are in bed or going to bed at that time. cant they do it at 6 or 7pm if needed?...thanks

ffm784 said...

At the moment I'm not sure why they are blasting so late in the evening but I'll see if I can find out.

People with questions and/or concerns about the blasting should contact Claudia Wilson, the Community Relations Representative for the Second Avenue Subway project. She can be reached on 212-792-9716.