December 29, 2007

92nd street, NW corner - looking SW
Steel I Beams being loaded on to a truck.



93rd street, NW corner - looking north
The new sewer main is in place, at this location, and is now being covered over.



94th street, SW corner - looking south
A piece of 48" pipe waiting to be placed into the trench and connected to the new sewer main.



btw. 93rd and 94th, west side of the street - looking S
The trench on the right is for the new sewer main and the utility lines that are being relocated.

- - -

The images that follow show the current state of the west side of each intersection on 2nd Avenue from 91st up to 95th. I thought that these images might be useful for the next Community Board Number 8 meeting on January 29th. (Now rescheduled for March 3rd.)

At most intersections traffic has been squeezed into one lane and only one pedestrian walkway is open. But, as you can see, many pedestrians walk wherever they want.

The images "looking east" were taken from a position approx. 100 feet from the west edge of 2nd Avenue.

91st street

looking east
(Note that this street, 91st between 2nd and 3rd, has been closed to through traffic for years.)


92nd Street

looking east


looking west from the SE corner


93rd street

looking east


also looking east
Note the pedestrian walking in the active roadway instead of on the temporary walkway.


looking west from the NE corner
Again, another pedestrian walking in the street instead of on the temporary walkway.


94th street

looking east


looking west from the SE corner
Note the "Yes We Are Open" sign in the window of the shop on the left.


95th street

looking east


looking west from the NE corner
Crossing 95th street on the west side of the 2nd Avenue is dangerous at night, based on my personal experiences. Drivers turning from 2nd Avenue west onto 95th cannot easily see the pedestrian signal because it is located way over near the corner of the brick building on the left. The lighting on the west side of this intersection is also inedequate.



93rd street, SE corner - at the site office

November 24, 2007

btw. 92nd and 93rd streets - west side of 2nd Avenue
Pieces of the new 48" sewer main have now been laid in the 20' deep trench on the west side of 2nd Avenue --



but certain obstructions, like this smaller sewer line, need to be relocated before the new main can be finished --



a closer view of the smaller line that is obstructing the new 48" main.



near the SW corner of 93rd and 2nd looking north
Trench work continues. The rotary drilling rig has now moved all the way up to the north end of the launch box, at 95th street. (Yes, the shadow is in fact the person who took this picture.)



E..............................................SE..............................................S
NW corner of 95th and 2nd
Note: This is a stitched image.
Left-click on the image for a larger view.



NW corner of 95th and 2nd - looking south
A view of the rotary drilling rig with the sun directly behind it. (at about 1 PM)



a closer view of the rig.



and even closer.



the intersection of 95th and 2nd - looking east
Note: This is a stitched image.
Left-click on the image for a larger view.



Yes, this Chase branch in in fact open, even thought it is not apparent how one would enter the branch from this angle.

November 4, 2007

btw. 93rd and 94th streets
Looking through a piece of drilling pipe - approx 2 feet in diameter and 20 feet long.



the same piece of pipe - a wider angle.



This piece of equipment, a German made Bauer BG 22H rotary drilling rig mounted on a Caterpiller platform, arrived at the job site on Monday morning October 29th. The drilling portion of the machine stands about 70 feet tall.

This machine will be used to drill holes, about 2 feet in diameter, for the piles (the steel beams on the left in the image.) My guess is that these piles will support the outside walls of the launch box.



A closer view of rotary drilling rig.



A close-up view of the working end of the rotary drill.



And these are the piles that are being placed in the holes that are being drilled.



This store closed and relocated back in August. Most likely it will be some time before this location is rented again.



A jack hammer, a pair of boots and and a traffic cone.



A nice selection of tools at the job site.

October 28, 2007

A hydraulic hammer
The tool of choice, for the moment.



Another hydraulic hammer - the "Rockblaster."



These bags are normally used to remove dirt and debris in a trench or hole. They are filled by hand and then lifted out of the trench with a backhoe or excavator.



A water cooler sitting on top of an old man hole. Note the jackhammer on the right.



If I'm not mistaken, this was once the base of an traffic signal pole.



A fire hydrant that is obviously no longer in service.



on 91st street - just west of 2nd Avenue
This hole was opened in the last few days.



Trench work continues.



All of these pipes, wires and cables must be relocated to make room for the launch box.



A nice example of the heavy planking that is used to support the walls of a trench as it is dug deeper and deeper.



94th at the SW corner - looking South
Three images have been stitched together
into a single image here.
At the top of the image the view is looking
down 2nd Avenue -- and at the bottom
the viewer is looking straight down into the trench.

October 14, 2007

various locations on 2nd Avenue
This poster started to appear after the last Community Board 8 meeting. Right after the meeting I spotted about 2 dozen of them, but on the day that I went out to take pictures I only could find 2 - on 95th street.



95th street, NW corner - looking south
In this image you see the barrier that has been erected to try and get pedestrians to use the temporary crosswalks. My observations suggest that most people continue to walk where ever they want - as is evident in this picture!



btw. 94th and 95th, west side of the avenue
Almost all of the work at the moment is focused on digging a new trench for the sewer line that will replace the existing sewer line that (today) is in the middle of 2nd Avenue.



A self portrait, of sorts.



Old cast iron sewer lines.



btw. 92nd and 93rd, west side of the street - looking west.
This machine, an excavator with a hydraulic hammer connected to it, is being used to clear the trench for the new sewer line.



btw. 92nd and 93rd, west side of the avenue - looking north
Another view of the new trench for the sewer line. The temporary bridge, I think, is just an emergency exit from the building.



btw. 92nd and 93rd, west side of the avenue - looking west
There's an enormous amount of work going on right in front of the Key Food store at this location. The wooden ramp on the left is used in the morning for deliveries to the store.