The MTA's staff photographer Patrick Cashin was on-site at the TBM launch box on Wednesday and Thursday last week.
A selection of his shots were posted on the MTA's Facebook page the other day and I've reproduced a couple of them below.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/21/10
In this shot the photographer is standing inside one of the two starter tunnels and he's looking north - at the front of the TBM.
The cutterhead (the yellow object) has only moments ago been lowered into the launch box through the glory hole located near the SE corner of East 92nd Street and Second Avenue. The workers here are preparing to mount it onto the cutterhead support.
The cutterhead has a "Q" painted on it since it is the Q Line that will be extended north under Second Avenue as part of Phase 1 of this project.
At the moment no one that I've talked to seems to know what the letters "ADI" (on the front of the cutterhead) stand for. Logical searches on Google, to find the answer, have come up blank - but I've been told "to keep digging, because hints are out there."
When someone figures out what this means I'll be sure to update this posting.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/21/10
An Update - 4/27/10
The MTA just provided me with a high-resolution copy of this image. Left-click on the image for a very detailed view of the TBM and the south end of the launch box.
This shot was taken (I guess) from a catwalk that is somewhere near the ceiling of the launch box. What's interesting is that from this angle the TBM looks rather of small. Don't be fooled though - just look at the size of the men that are standing near the machine.
In this shot you also can clearly see the east and west starter tunnels, on the left and right respectively.
You an also see the main beam and the cutterhead support. In this shot the cutterhead is still being suspended in the air by the crane on the street.
The will start (in mid-May) by boring the west tunnel. When they reach 63rd Street they will back the TBM up to the launch box and then they will bore the east tunnel.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/21/10
And here's a closer look at the parts that make up the front-end of the TBM.
These three TBM parts (the main beam, the cutterhead support, and the cutterhead) together weight approximately 534,000 pounds (267 tons).
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/22/10
This shot, and the shots that follow, were taken the next day.
By now the cutterhead has finally been mounted onto the cutterhead support and the workers are continuing to assemble the machine.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/22/10
In this shot the photographer is standing below the glory hole near the SE corner of East 92nd Street and Second Avenue.
The building that is visible is The Chartwell House, a 34-story condominium apartment tower located at 1760 Second Avenue.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/22/10
And again we have a nice view of the two starter tunnels and the TBM.
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/22/10
Patrick J. Cashin/MTA - 4/22/10
This is another shot of the TBM as it looked last Thursday.
You can view all of Patrick Cashin's images (28 in total) on the MTA's Facebook page.
The MTA also produced a short video of the cutterhead event last Wednesday evening.
TBM Cutterhead Arrives (2:51)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority via YouTube - 4/22/10
Note that this video can be viewed
in high-definition (HD) if you follow these steps:Left-click 2 times on the video (this will re-direct you to the YouTube site.) Then move your cursor over the "360p" in the lower right-hand corner of the video and select one of the other video modes - "720p" (1280 x 720 pixels) or "1080p" (1920 x 1080 pixels)
And here's a copy of the MTA's press release on this topic, with even more details.
200-Ton Cutter Head for
Second Avenue Subway's Tunnel Boring Machine Arrives
Metropolitan Transportation Authority - 4/22/10
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a view of 1817 Second Avenue (btw. 94th and 95th)
The restaurant at this location re-opened on 4/18/10 after being closed for about a week.
Apparently Hokkaido (the Japanese Restaurant that was at this location) moved to 1694 Second Avenue (btw. 87th and 88th streets) and E.Plus (an Asian fusion & sushi restaurant) quickly took its place.
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Here's a listing of the recent additions
to the right-hand column of The Launch Box
Robbins Main Beam TBM Boring Cycle (0:56)
The Robbins Company via YouTube - 4/14/10
This short video very nicely explains how a Main Beam TBM works. (this is the same type of machine that will be used during Phase 1 of the Second Avenue subway project.)
Robbins Hard Rock Disc Cutters (1:01)
The Robbins Company via YouTube - 4/14/10
This short video explains how the disk cutters on the cutterhead do their job.
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And for those that are interested -
A copy of the 8-page Fire Department New York (FDNY) Incident Report for the fire at Knickerbocker Plaza (1751 Second Avenue) on 3/20/10 can now be found on this link:
Fire at 1751 Second Avenue - March 20, 2010
