Sunday, December 19, 2010

Working on Saturday



12/18/10
btw. 72nd & 73rd streets - looking south

Workers from SSK Constructors (a joint venture of Schiavone Construction, J.F. Shea Construction, and Kiewit Infrastructure) were hard at work when I walked past their job site on Saturday afternoon.

SSK won the contract to build the underground cavern and associated tunnels for the new 72nd Street station with a bid of about $447 million.

The circular structure in the street, in the image above, is the 69th Street access shaft. This shaft, which was blasted to a depth of 60 feet by the earlier contractor (S3 Tunnel Constructors), will provide the contractor with access to the to-be-constructed underground station cavern.

The yellow machine shown above is a partially constructed Liebherr HS 885 crawler crane. (the boom has not yet been attached.)



12/18/10
73rd - looking S

A view of the shaft site, from the north.

According to the MTA's Construction Update web page, controlled blasting at this location was to start last week.



12/18/10
btw. 70th & 69th - looking W

The worker shown here grinding a piece of steel.



12/18/10
btw. 69th & 70th - looking NW

This is an image of the other access shaft, which is located just north of 69th Street.



12/18/10
69th - looking N

The MTA signage at this location is a bit confusing.

The sign on the left talks about a Spring of 2011 completion date and the signage on the right talks about a completion date in the Fall of 2013.

What is not said is that work on the 72nd Street station, in and around this location, is scheduled to continue until early 2015.



12/18/10
btw. 69th & 70th

The worker in this image is using a manual technique known as shielded metal arc welding.

Note - if you happen to come across a worker who is welding do NOT look at the electric arc. The brightness of the weld area can cause inflammation of the cornea and can burn the retina of the eyes. (I took this set of pictures using the variable angle display on my camera, so I never looked directly at the arc.)


12/18/10

The worker is seen here wearing a welding helmet to protect his eyes, face and neck from the ultraviolet and infrared light of the arc, the sparks, and the heat.



12/18/10

Another view of the welder at work, from the other side of the street.



12/18/10
btw. 72nd & 71st - looking NE

A set of workers can be seen here working just below street level.



12/18/10
btw. 82nd & 83rd - looking N

A view of the job site north of 82nd Street. There was no active work taking place at this site on Saturday afternoon.



12/18/10
the SW corner of 83rd Street

Manikins, dressed in black, seemingly watching over the work site at this corner.



12/18/10
near the NW corner of 83rd Street

A collection of ConEd electrical cables under Second Avenue.



12/18/10
87th - looking S

The trench here is being dug for a replacement sewer line.





12/18/10
btw. 91st & 92nd - looking W

A small dog, dressed for the holiday, waits by the fence in front of the work site.



12/18/10
btw. 95th & 96th - looking W

A section of new 48-inch sewer pipe.



12/18/10
between 96th & 97th - looking W

Utility relocation work in this block of Second Avenue continues.



12/18/10
btw. 96th & 97th - looking S

A different view of the same location.



12/18/10
btw. 91st & 92nd - looking W

The Christmas wreath mounted on the side of this Liebherr crane was made by a young friend of the workers.



12/18/10

In this close-up shot you can see that the wreath has been decorated with cardboard cutouts in the shape of a Liebherr crane and the cutterhead of the TBM.


:::::


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

A hearing for 2nd Ave. businesses, but what response?
By Benjamin Kabak
2nd Ave. Sagas - 12/8/10

"Bing Pitches Greater Economic Impact Of Second Avenue Subway Construction"
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
City Hall - 12/9/10

"Learning the Hard Way About Life Across Town"
By Michael M. Grynbaum
The New York Times - 12/16/10

PB Podcast: Women Engineers at PB (3:50)
by Parsons Brinckerhoff
A podcast highlighting the roll of women engineers on the Second Avenue subway project.



"Living, Briefly, Amid Noise and Dust" (2:54)
By Michael M. Brynbaum
The New York Times - 12/16/10

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Committee Hearing Video


NY State Senate Committee Holds Hearing
to Review Second Avenue Subway Project

This past Tuesday, November 30th, the New York State Senate Standing Committee On Corporations, Authorities and Commissions held a public hearing in New York City to review the Second Avenue subway project.

The hearing, which was chaired by Senator Bill Perkins, brought together a full cast of characters in one room - the politicians (Senators Bill Perkins, Liz Krueger, Daniel Squadron, and José Serrano), MTA executive management, and a select list of affected business owners and residents on Second Avenue.

The hearing went largely unnoticed by the media, but to my surprise I found a full video recording of the meeting on the NYSenate Uncut channel on YouTube.

The raw video of the hearing has been embedded in 3 parts below.

I've added a listing of time stamps to allow the viewer to jump to the testimony that interests him or her - since 2 1/2 hours is clearly longer than the attention span of most people.

The video provides a unique perspective on the project as well as the workings of the NY State Senate.



Part 1 (1:38:09)
11/30/20

0:00:00 - 0:11:45
Opening remarks from Senator Bill Perkins

0:11:50 - 0:21:40
Testimony of Jay Walder
Chairman and CEO of the MTA

0:22:00 - 0:38:00
Testimony of Michael Horodniceanu
President of MTA Capital Construction

0:38:00 - 1:00:35
Questions from Senator Perkins

1:00:35 - 1:03:55
Remarks from Senator Serano

1:03:55 - 1:16:00
Questions from Senator Krueger

1:16:20 - 1:27:10
Questions from Senator Squadron

1:27:10 - end
Additional remarks and questions by Senator Perkins



Part 2 (58m)
11/30/2010

0:00 - 3:15
Testimony from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
as read by her representative

3:15 - 7:30
Testimony from NY City Council Member Daniel Garodnick
as read by his representative David Kimball-Stanley

7:30 - 11:30
Q&A

13:50 - 15:15
Testimony of Joe Pecora
owner of Delizia 92 Pizzeria and
President of the Second Avenue Business Assoc. (SABA)

15:25 - 17:45
Testimony of Mallory Spain
Exec. VP of East 86th Street Business Assoc.

17:45 - 24:35
Testimony of Mr. Shin (sp?)
Owner of Eve's Nails at 1776 Second Avenue

24:35 - 33:55
Testimony of Norman Siegel, Esq.

33:55 - end
Q&A



Part 3 (1hr)

1:55 - 9:35
Testimony of Rita Popper
President of the Knickerbocker Plaza Tenants Assoc.

9:45 - 11:20
Testimony of Elmerad (?)
Store owner on Second Avenue

11:30 - 19:30
Testimony of Marcello Rochini
Owners of Nina's Argentinian Pizzeria

19:30 - 23:45
Testimony from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
as read by his representative of Steven Corson

23:55 - 30:10
Testimony of a small business owner
on Second Avenue

33:10 - 36:15
Testimony of Jill Lovett
Resident on Second Avenue

36:15 - 41:25
Testimony of Gilbert Salvotar
Resident on Second Avenue

41:25 - 45:45
Testimony of Lee Yong Wong
Business owner on Second Avenue

45:45 - 49:00
Testimony of Alisa Coleman
Board President of 245 East 72nd Street

50:40 - 56:20
Testimony of Hunter Armstrong
Executive Director of Civitas


::


In other news --

Yorkshire Towers LP and the Yorkshire Towers Tenants Association (a.k.a. the owner and tenants association of the residential building at 305-315 East 86th Street) filed a lawsuit against the Federal Transit Administration and the MTA last week.

The plaintiffs in this case, which was filed in U.S. District Court on November 30th, seek the enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the release of specific records and materials related to the mid-block subway entrances that are planned to be located in front of their building.

A full copy of the 16-page lawsuit can be found in Benjamin Kabak's piece, "Residents of 86th St. file suit over SAS entrances," on the blog, 2nd Ave. Sagas.


::


Last Reported Location of the TBM
btw. 74th and 75th streets
as of Tuesday, November 30th

TBM Run No. 1 (west tunnel)
92nd Street to 65th Street
7,200 linear feet
40 foot starter tunnel
4,626 feet mined w/TBM to date
2,534 feet to run

November TBM Mining Data:
Distance mined: 889 linear feet
TBM mining days: 20
Avg. distance per day: 44.45 feet


:::::


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

"MTA Vows To Clean Up Act On Second Avenue Subway" (1:53)
Reported by John Mancini
NY1 - 11/30/10

Walder talks 2nd Ave. Subway
By Benjamin Kabak
2nd. Ave. Sagas - 12/1/2010

Residents on 86th St. file suit over SAS entrances
By Benjamin Kabak
2nd. Ave. Sagas - 12/1/2010

"Aid Needed for 2nd Ave. Business, But How?"
By Dan Rivoli
OurTown - 12/1/10


As part of a new section labeled,
"Federal Transit Administration Links":

FTA Technical Memorandum 1
Design Changes: Reduction in length of the crossover cavern south of 70th Street, changes in the construction technique for the curved tunnels south of 66th Street, modifications to the project's phasing for the portion of the main line tunnels south of 68th Street, modifications to the 72nd Street, modifications to 86th Street, and modifications to 96th Street [stations].
1/5/07

FTA Technical Memorandum 2
Design Changes: 96th Street Ancillary facility relocation
4/17/07

FTA Technical Memorandum 3
Changes at Lexington Avenue / 63rd Street Station
7/30/07

FTA Technical Memorandum 4
Alignment Change between 63rd and 96th Streets
9/30/08

FTA Technical Memorandum 5
Changes at Lexington Avenue / 63rd Street Station
4/26/10

FTA Technical Memorandum 6
69th Street Ancillary Facility
9/16/10