Back Under Second Avenue

The MTA released another blockbuster set of images from under Second Avenue a few weeks ago.

Even though the images are a bit dated they are nonetheless impressive to look at.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

Workers inside the 86th Street station cavern dealing with fresh concrete.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

Workers assembling rebar cages near the entrance to one of the tunnels.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

Inside one of the running tunnels.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

A view of the circular form that is used to line the tunnels walls with concrete.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

Now inside the 72nd Street station cavern.

The form shown is used to line the ceiling of the cavern with concrete.



MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
12/2/13

A view of the three block long 72nd Street cavern under Second Avenue.


Additional images from this set can be found on this link:
Second Avenue Subway: January 31, 2014
MTA Flickr page
54 images

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

"Landlords dig Second Ave. subway"
By Joe Anuta
Crain's New York Business - 2/24/13

"Geologists Glimpse a Heaven Below"
By Sam Roberts
The New York Times - 2/17/14

How the MTA Keeps 2nd Ave Structures Stable During Subway Construction
MTA Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center Event
Th. February 27th - 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Beneath the Street: Geology of the Second Avenue Subway
MTA Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center Event
Th. March 13th - 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

::

MTA Second Avenue Subway Newsletter
Volume XXII, February 2014

Lex Av/63rd St Station Area

72nd St Station Area

86th St Station Area

96th St Station Area

Off Topic
Grand Central by Design

Earlier this month the New York Transit Museum announced the launch of Grand by Design Online, a digital home for the multimedia exhibition Grand by Design: A Centennial Celebration of Grand Central Terminal. The exhibition made its debut in Vanderbilt Hall in conjunction with the Centennial’s opening ceremonies on February 1, 2013.

Now this in-depth look at Grand Central has moved to a permanent online base at www.gcthistory.com

The website allows readers to scroll through nine different sections following a narrative from early railroading in New York to the creation of Grand Central Terminal and the diverse roles it has played for travelers in its illustrious and tumultuous one hundred years of existence. The clean, vertical layout is packed with information in a variety of formats, with text supported by archival photographs, drawings, and video footage.

Four video interviews from historians and workers in the Terminal provide personal perspectives on what makes Grand Central truly one-of-a-kind. The website makes available the extensive research and stories compiled by the New York Transit Museum since preparations for the exhibition began in 2010.

(The text above was taken from an MTA Press Announcement dated 2/12/2014.)

A Roundup of Images

Here's a selection of images that I've been meaning to post for some time now.



12/3/13
near the SW corner of 97th Street

A look down into the basement, from the sidewalk, of what will become the Ancillary Building No. 2 for the 96th Street station.



5/11/13

An image of the same location, seven months earlier, when additional tubular struts were in use.  These struts are used to provide temporary structural support during construction.



3/9/13

And the same location, almost a year ago.



12/3/13
96th Street, SW Corner - looking south

A look at the future location of Entrance No. 3 for the new 96th Street Station.



12/3/13
95th Street - looking east

The new building for the Travor Day school, at 312-318 East 95th Street, rises just two short blocks away from a future entrance to the 96th Street station.



12/3/13
94th Street, NE corner - looking NE

A look at the work site for Entrance No. 2 of the future 96th Street Station.



12/3/13
Just south of 86th Street - looking east

A sidewalk view of the Schaller & Weber market on the east side of Second Avenue.



12/3/13
70th Street, NW corner - looking NE

A view, from early December, of the muck house at this location. At the time I took the picture, the contractor was in the process of taking down this structure, since it is no longer needed.




12/3/13
70th Street, SW corner - looking NE

Another view of the same muck house.

You will notice in this image that northern muck house for this station location has already been disassembled and removed from the work site. 



12/3/13
69th Street, SW corner - looking NW

If you look closely at this building, which is 233 East 69th Street, you will see that most of the windows on the east face of this building have been bricked over. This was done because an ancillary building for the 72nd Street station will soon occupy the full lot on this corner.




12/6/2009
69th Street, SE corner - looking NW

An image, from 2009, of the building that once occupied the lot where the new ancillary building will be constructed.



12/6/2009
233 East 69th Street - looking north

An image also from 2009, of the windows that today no longer exist. 

Now a few pictures from below ground, courtesy of the MTA.

Note that the five images shown below were taken in the 86th station cavern about a month ago.


Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
1/11/14

A view of what would appear to be the south end of the cavern.

This station cavern, which is 65 feet high, was blasted out of solid bedrock over the past year or so.  In the lower right corner, you can see Tunnel No. 1 (the west tunnel) which was mined using a tunnel boring machine.

The yellow polymer membrane on the right is being applied as part of the effort to waterproof the cavern. 



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
1/11/14

This is a closer view of west tunnel at the south end of the 86 Street station cavern.



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
1/11/14

A view of the netherworld deep under Second Avenue.



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
1/11/14

The white semi-circular tunnel form above is technically known as a "station arch tunnel formwork." It is being used by the contractor to cast complete sections of the 86th Street station cavern ceiling arch using concrete.

This tunnel structure is the same form that I coincidentally came across in Ayers Cliff, Quebec this past summer.



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
1/11/14

A pair of lifting hooks wait for their next assignment.

Additional images from this set can be found on this link:
Second Avenue Subway - January 2014
MTA Flickr page

The MTA's Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center will be hosting a new Transit Talk event in late February.

Second Avenue Subway Geologist Julie Freitas will explain the origin and characteristics of the rocks and soil under Second Avenue, and how they influence the construction methods used to build the subway.

The event is free and open to the public but preregistration is required.

The talk will take place at the Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center which is located at 1628 2nd Avenue (btw. 84th & 85th streets) on Thursday, February 27th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.

To RSVP for this event, click on this link:
Beneath the Street: Geology of the Second Avenue Subway

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

"Subway Art on the Future Second Avenue Subway Line Revealed"
By Bhushan Mondkar
untapped cities - 1/22/14

"MTA Plans to Evict Tenants and Take Over Part of Co-Op for 2nd. Ave. Work"
By James Fanelli
DNAInfo NY - 1/8/14

"Shops along 2nd. Ave. subway line construction sites want big bucks in 2014"
By Simone Weichselbaum
NY Daily News - 1/7/14

SAS Public Workshop Sept 2013 Follow-up Report
MTA Capital Construction
11/2013

Second Avenue Subway Reaches Major Milestones
MTA Press Release
11/22/13

Touring the SAS Community Information Center
By Cassim Shepard and Daniel Rojo
Urban Omnibus - 11/22/13

::

MTA Second Avenue Subway Newsletter
Volume XXI, January 2014

Lex Av/63rd St Station Area

72nd St Station Area

86th St Station Area

96th St Station Area

Blasting Operations Now Complete

The MTA announced today that blasting operations for Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway Project are now complete.

The final blast, which concluded the excavation for an entrance located on the north side of 86th Street and 2nd Avenue, took place on Monday, November 18, 2013 at 5:21 p.m.

Controlled blasting operations began on November 4, 2009, with the first blast at the 96th St. station cavern site. Controlled blasting was used in the construction of all of the cavern excavations for underground structures for the new subway stations at 72nd, 86th, and 96th streets.

After enduring four years of intermittent blasting under Second Avenue, neighborhood residents are without a doubt happy that this part of the construction effort is now complete.


Here are two videos of actual blasts from the project:


"Blasting on Second Avenue"
The Launch Box Blog
3/19/10



Second Avenue Subway - 8/2/2012 Update
Metropolitan Transportation Authority

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

Second Avenue Subway Reaches Major Milestones
MTA Press Release
11/22/13

Underground / Aboveground: Touring the Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center
By Cassim Shepard and Daniel Rojo
Urban Omnibus - 11/22/13

::

MTA Second Avenue Subway Newsletters
Volume XIX, November 2013

Lex Av/63rd St Station Area

72nd St Station Area

86th St Station Area

96th St Station Area

Underground at 86th Street

Progress continues under Second Avenue, blasting or no blasting.

The pictures that follow, which were provided by the MTA, were taken about a week ago inside the 86th Street station cavern.


Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
10/26/13



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
10/26/13



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
10/26/13



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
10/26/13



Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
10/26/13


Additional images from this set can be found on this link:
Second Avenue Subway - October 2013
MTA

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

"Managing Subway Construction: The Mechanics of a Megaproject"
MTA Second Avenue Subway
Community Information Center Event on 11/7/13

"Where is the Second Avenue Subway going"
By Dana Rubinstein
Capital - 10/23/13

CB8 SAS Construction Update
MTA Capital Construction - 9/30/13

Video: "The Second Avenue Subway" (4:11)
By Shelby Holliday
Channel One News - 10/8/13

"No Heel Hazards (or Gusts) as Subway Expands"
By Sam Roberts
The New York Times - 10/1/13

Photos: The 2nd Avenue Subway's Progress
By Evan Bindelglass
Gothamist - 9/25/13

Video: SAS Community Information Center Opens
Transit Transit Newsmagazine - 9/13

FTA Technical Memorandum No. 11

::

MTA Second Avenue Subway Newsletter
Volume XVIII, October 2013

Lex Av/63rd St Station Area

72nd St Station Area

86th St Station Area

96th St Station Area

Off Topic
City Water Tunnel No. 3 Goes Live

Most people probably don't realize it but the Manhattan portion of City Water Tunnel No. 3 was finally put into service last month, after 43 years of construction.

Here are two stories on this largely unnoticed by very significant milestone:

"After Decades, a Water Tunnel Can Now Serve All of Manhattan"
By Matt Flegenheimer
The New York Times
10/16/13

"In An Artificial Cave 200' Beneath Central Park with Michael Bloomberg"
By Geoff Manaugh
GIZMODO
10/16/2013
(You'll find lots of great pictures in this posting.)