SAS TBM boring complete!

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

As of yesterday Adi had only about 25 yards left to dig! Hard part's almost over guys!

yea but does that mean its going to be opened any earlier?

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

It was never the tunnels, it was about the stations. Ideally speaking, work on the stations would have started as soon as the TBM cleared each station on its run south.

...AGAIN with the negitive...

 

the city has been waiting for this for a long time, real progress on the line that time forgot. We should all be happy.

I'll be happy when they finish it, this should have been done a while ago, if I recall right, years ago they said by 2012-13 it was supposed to be fully open, but the city is such a pain in the butt when it comes to constructing anything, they know its the MTA they should have suspended all permits and approval processes and just let them get moving on it.

Well it was always biting off more than they chew. If they ever decided to just focus on one major project at a time that requires some sort of new build, instead at one point SAS, ESA, FSTC, and the new SF station, and full funding was available for the project start to finish as a result, many of these projects would have been completed in a reasonable time for decent cost. Do you make substantial renovations to your home without it being paid in full (other than construction loans tied to collateral) first?

Tell that to the IRT which built the Lexington Avenue Line at the same time while the Seventh Avenue Line was under construction. They did both projects at the same time.

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

Those are both dual contract, built by the city.

 

but it was before RFP and EIS and DEIS and alternatives studies...

well they should have the authority to suspend those things when something is a high priority that needs to be built

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

What will happen to the TBMs after this? The 2nd and 3rd phase of the SAS requires TBMs are we going to bury this or store it somewhere?

It will be used for the other phases. Although I think they should order a second TBM to speed up the construction of the subway.

What will happen to the TBMs after this? The 2nd and 3rd phase of the SAS requires TBMs are we going to bury this or store it somewhere?

It's been mentioned that the drills are built for the specific job [at least that's what i've read]. So even if the machine itself is kept on 'stand-by', the drill will need to be replaced.

The TBM's are not property of NYC or MTA or anyone else. They are rented from a Swiss company that makes TBM's. Obviously the drill head and machinery will be modified for the next use. Just like it was brought into the tunnel in pieces and assembled, so too it will come out in pieces and get shipped back.

As a side note, this company tests the new TBM's in the Swiss Alps, and there is actually a TBM stuck somehwhere in those mountains in a spot where the earth suddenly got much lighter and caved in around the machine as they were testing it.

That's if they don't decide to leave the drill head and bury it in the tunnels somewhere

...AGAIN with the negitive...

 

the city has been waiting for this for a long time, real progress on the line that time forgot. We should all be happy.

Is the second tunnel finished as of right now?

The TBM's are not property of NYC or MTA or anyone else. They are rented from a Swiss company that makes TBM's. Obviously the drill head and machinery will be modified for the next use. Just like it was brought into the tunnel in pieces and assembled, so too it will come out in pieces and get shipped back.

 

As a side note, this company tests the new TBM's in the Swiss Alps, and there is actually a TBM stuck somehwhere in those mountains in a spot where the earth suddenly got much lighter and caved in around the machine as they were testing it.

Really? I thought they were going to bury it somewhere.

News!!!

http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/147645/second-avenue-subway-reaches--boring--milestone

http://online.wsj.com/article/APcf9da28ddc654055ae592ea28c4a8125.html

News!!!

http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/147645/second-avenue-subway-reaches--boring--milestone

http://online.wsj.com/article/APcf9da28ddc654055ae592ea28c4a8125.html

That is awesome news! Progress is happening and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this tunnel and 2nd Ave!

Metro Magazine - The completion of tunneling marks a major milestone in the $4.45 billion project that will provide service from 96th Street to 63rd Street as an extension of the Q train.

 

The TBM began its journey in March and completed the east (northbound) tunnel after making a tight, westerly curve into the existing 63rd Street Station. The tunnel will now receive the concrete lining, which provides the permanent tunnel structure. The work is part of the initial $392 million tunnels and shafts contract that was awarded in March 2007 to Skanska, Schiavone and Shea Tunnel Constructors, JV.

 

The 485-ton, 450-foot-long TBM used a 22-foot diameter cutterhead to mine 7,789 linear feet averaging approximately 60 linear feet a day. The average depth of the tunnel is 70 feet. During the first 200 feet, the TBM mined through ground which has been frozen, a technique which engineers employ to harden soil, or decomposed rock, enabling the excavation process.

 

The TBM began mining the 7,209 linear-foot west (southbound) tunnel in May 2010 from the launch box at 92nd Street and was then disassembled and pulled back to 92nd Street where it started its second run this spring to mine the east tunnel.

 

Work is currently underway to rehabilitate the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station to accommodate the future Q extension. It will now take approximately three weeks to partially disassemble and pull back the TBM through the tunnel by locomotive. The TBM will be completely dismantled once it returns to the launch box and will be sent back to the contractor’s facilities.

 

Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway will serve more than 200,000 people per day, reducing overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line and restoring a transit link to a neighborhood that lost the Second Avenue Elevated in the 1940’s.

 

When Phase I is complete in December 2016, it will decrease crowding on the adjacent Lexington Avenue Line by as much as 13 percent, or 23,500 fewer riders on an average weekday. It will also reduce travel times by up to 10 minutes or more (up to 27 percent) for those on the far east side or those traveling from the east side to west midtown.

 

The line is being built in phases, with the Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway providing service from 96th Street to 63rd Street as an extension of the Q train, including three new ADA-accessible stations along Second Avenue at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets, and new entrances to the existing Lexington Avenue-63rd Street Station at 63rd Street and Third Avenue.

 

Further phases of the project will extend the line from 125th Street in Harlem to Hanover Square in the Financial District. The configuration of the tracks will allow for possible future extensions into Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

 

Funding for this critical improvement to the MTA’s transportation network is being provided by MTA local sources and federal ($1.37 billion) sources.

 

Photos will be posted later today at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/

From Bloomberg:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority finished excavating a tunnel for the first phase of New York’s Second Avenue subway, a project plagued by delays since the city’s fiscal crisis in the 1970s.

 

Officials of the biggest U.S. transit agency hailed the more than two-mile (3.2-kilometer) tube from 92nd Street to 63rd Street in Manhattan as a milestone on the road to completing the plan’s initial segment. This leg, with a $4.5 billion price tag, is scheduled to open in December 2016 even as the project’s remaining two phases remain unfunded.

 

Construction workers have used a 485-ton tunnel-boring machine since May 2010 to dig at an average depth of 70 feet. A crowd of about 100 MTA employees, contractors and reporters watched as the machine carved through the schist that lies under much of Manhattan.

 

“When you stand above ground it’s sometimes hard to see whether or not there’s progress on this project,” MTA Chairman Jay Walder, who’s leaving in October for a position with Hong Kong’s rail operator, told reporters as he stood a few feet from the hole. “You come down here and you see the Second Avenue tunnel taking shape right before our eyes.”

 

The MTA is building the line to ease the burden on the East Side, where the Lexington Avenue line is the busiest in North America. The MTA expects the first phase, which will provide service from 96th Street to 63rd Street as an extension of the Q train, to serve 213,000 riders a day and decrease crowding by as much as 13 percent.

 

2007 Start

Construction began in 2007 on the new line, which is intended to stretch from 125th Street in East Harlem to Hanover Square in the Financial District. The project is part of the agency’s $24.2 billion capital plan, which faces a $9 billion deficit. A link to run Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal, the largest U.S. transit project, is also part of the capital plan.

Merchants in the construction zone have struggled with reduced sidewalk space, dirt and noise, and a dearth of parking. State lawmakers representing the area have attempted unsuccessfully to pass legislation providing tax abatements or grant money.

Business has plummeted by as much as 30 percent at Star Cleaners on Second Avenue near 69th Street since the work began, said Sally Kim, who’s run the dry-cleaning shop since 2003.

“We cannot make enough to pay bills -- I don’t know what I can do,” Kim said in an interview yesterday. “I couldn’t sleep yesterday. So much worry.”

 

El Trains

Plans for a subway line along the avenue date to 1929, before the demolition of two nearby elevated train lines to make room for neighborhood development in 1942 and 1956, according to the MTA. A proposal in the 1960s for a line stretching from the Bronx to Lower Manhattan led to the construction of several tunnel segments, which were halted the following decade.

The Federal Transit Administration pegs the expense higher than the MTA, saying it will cost almost $1 billion more than initially anticipated and won’t be finished until 2018, according to a 2010 report.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s an important milestone that the excavation work is done,” William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said by telephone. “The big impacts of the tunneling are probably largely in the past. Delays cost money, so getting things done rather than having them stretch out beyond their schedule is a good thing.

 

“It’s been a tough several years for the residents in the area and will continue to be for some period of time,” he said. “We’d like to see it wrapped up and in service so this phase can just become a memory.”

A full report on The Launch Box blog was posted Thursday evening -- with 38 images and a video from the SAS TBM breakthrough site deep inside the Lexington Av-63rd Street station.

Here's the direct link to the posting:

Subway Infrastructure Milestone Achieved

CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32155

^^The had a video, and I didn't notice this thread lol.

The stations would take longer then the tunnel.. imagine that.

The TBM began its journey in March and completed the east (northbound) tunnel after making a tight, westerly curve into the existing 63rd Street Station. The tunnel will now receive the concrete lining, which provides the permanent tunnel structure. The work is part of the initial $392 the permanent tunnel structure.

 

The TBM began mining the 7,209 linear-foot west (southbound) tunnel in May 2010 from the launch box at 92nd Street and was then disassembled and pulled back to 92nd Street where it started its second run this spring to mine the east tunnel.

It just occurred to me; this is the first time I've heard of them punching through to the existing system. I don't remember them breaking through on the other side. Trying to remember if I even recall a story on them being halway through when they completed that last years. Perhaps. But I sure don't remember a connection to 63rd being made.

Or maybe on that particular level they will just mine their way through?