Second Avenue Subway Discussion

[N4 Via Merrick Rd]

HERES SOME PHOTOS COURTESY OF FLICKE MTAPHOTOS (NO INRINGEMENT INTENDED.

aLSO SOME PHOTOS FROM THE 70s on the existing cut and cover tunnels

[Guest lance25]

My apologies for the delayed posting of this.

 

Excessive levels of a deadly carcinogen — linked to an incurable lung disease — were found at the Second Avenue Subway construction site during a federal safety inspection, according to documents obtained by The Post.

 

An air sample taken underground at East 69th Street and Second Avenue found more than three times the permissible levels of silica, tiny but dangerous dust particles dredged up during drilling construction, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

 

That sample was taken during an OSHA inspection Nov. 9, the results of which were released last week to Upper East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner.

DANGER: A worker climbs down from a hole dug by a tunnel boring machine at the Second Avenue Subway site, where feds have found dangerously high levels of silica.

AP

DANGER: A worker climbs down from a hole dug by a tunnel boring machine at the Second Avenue Subway site, where feds have found dangerously high levels of silica.

 

Overexposure to silica — which has been classified as a human lung carcinogen — can lead to silicosis, a lung disease with no cure that is common among construction workers.

 

The chronic disease can be fatal.

 

The three joint contractors at the site — Schiavone, Shea and Kiewit — were ordered to pay a $4,250 fine for the high silica levels, which OSHA deemed a “serious” safety violation.

 

They were also fined another $4,250 for failing to ensure that workers’ face masks — meant to keep the silica out of their lungs — fit properly.

 

The contractors have until April 20 to appeal OSHA’s findings.

 

Despite the disturbing results, the MTA insisted that the community — which has been complaining for months about air quality around the site — was never in danger.

 

“The levels of silica underground noted in these preliminary findings under no circumstance impacts air quality at street level,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.

 

“Silica does not float in the air but rather drops to the ground, so it is essentially impossible for it to impact the air quality at the street level 100 feet above.”

 

Only one worker was exposed to the high silica levels, and that was because his face mask did not fit properly, said Ortiz.

 

Kellner — who requested the OSHA inspection after being flooded with air-quality complaints from Upper East Siders — remains concerned.

 

“The [OSHA inspection results] really give me pause,” he said. “I got tons and tons of complaints [about the air]. It’s making people sneeze and cough.”

 

Some of his constituents, he said, are calling their maladies the “Second Avenue cough.”

 

A Schiavone spokeswoman said the “allegations are under review.”

 

“We take the health and safety of our workers very seriously, and we have cooperated fully with OSHA and will continue to do so,” she said.

 

One worker at the $4.4 billion project told The Post he’s had three respiratory infections while on the job.

 

“They say it’s safe, but is it really?” he asked.

 

In January, the MTA released the results of an independent study by the consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff that found the construction site was not polluting the air.

 

That study was done at the request of community leaders and residents, who say the incessant drilling has led to prairie-style dust storms.

 

Additional reporting by Dan MacLeod

Courtesy: Jennifer Fermino, NY Post

 

Now, a couple of questions that should be asked. 1) Is the amount of silica dust particles above tolerable levels above ground? And 2) why isn't Schiavone doing all it can to protect its workers? Both of those are legitimate concerns. Regarding the first, as the article stated, Parsons Brinckerhoff said sometime late last year that the construction wasn't polluting the above-ground air. And as for the second, this isn't the turn of the 20th Century anymore. You can't just destroy workers' lungs and write it off as an unfortunate accident.

[Grand Concourse]

Shows how cursed this line is. (not disregarding the workers lives)* This is going to just add on to the endless delay of the line...

 

*note: my point was made to exaggerate how when it comes to the SAS, there's something that happens to delay it. Of course there are worker related illness/deaths in other areas.

 

**I guess I have to add notes more often here.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Grand Concourse

[Guest lance25]

The line isn't cursed. There just has been so many things, both in and out of the control of the transit agency in charge over the years, that have been stumbling blocks to the completion of this project.

 

Regarding this particular concern, we can't have people dying or developing lung problems from the dust particles in the air because Schiavone doesn't want to protect its workers and possibly the local residents in the area.

[Grand Concourse]

"cursed" in a way. Somehow there always seems to be something that causes a delay or total suspension of the project over the decades. Money troubles, etc. It'll be a miracle when the 1st segment opens.

[CenSin]

Shows how cursed this line is. (not disregarding the workers lives)* This is going to just add on to the endless delay of the line...

More people have probably died building subway segments shorter than the one we're building now in the past.

[Nova RTS 9147]

"cursed" in a way. Somehow there always seems to be something that causes a delay or total suspension of the project over the decades. Money troubles, etc. It'll be a miracle when the 1st segment opens.

 

 

No it wont. The miracle will be segments 3 and 4. Phase 1 will open sometime before the end of the decade, and phase 2 probably ten years after (If I were a betting man Id say 2029).

[Grand Concourse]

By cursed:

*note: my point was made to exaggerate how when it comes to the SAS, there's something that happens to delay it. Of course there are worker related illness/deaths in other areas.

 

**I guess I have to add notes more often here.

 

[LTA1992]

So I just noticed something that I'm surprised I missed. Over one of the 1970s sections, I saw the metal grates for the tunnel. But the grates were filled with concrete. And they were in sets of 10. Has anyone else ever noticed them?

[TwoTimer]

The piece Steve is in the direction if you went straight ahead from the 6Av side of the bridge (instead of that gradual but big right turn the current services take to get into Grand St).

Edited March 31, 2012 by TwoTimer

[mark1447]

MTA Contractors Mishandle Debris From Second Avenue Construction

 

 

Dust is a fact of life on parts of the Upper East Side these days as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority constructs the Second Avenue subway.

"People, when that dust comes up, literally run through the streets, covering their faces," said one local.

The MTA has taken steps to try to contain it, but it looks like the agency's contractors are not always following city rules for properly containing the dust from the site.

NY1 crews found a number of trucks driving for blocks before raising their tarps in violation of a rule requiring trucks to cover their debris.

The station's cameras also caught debris clearly shedding dust as it was loaded into a contractor's truck. That would appear to be in violation of city rules requiring construction material to be "sufficiently wetted to prevent dust from being airborne."

The city Department of Transportation requires that trucks take mandated routes. In this case, the trucks here are supposed to go down Second Avenue down to either 66th Street or 67th Street and then take First or Third Avenues out of Manhattan.

NY1 tracked a violator from the Second Avenue subway construction crossing Central Park and not covering the load.

Enforcement of the correct routes, according to the Department of Transportation, is up to the police department, but the NYPD had not commented on NY1's story.

As for the uncovered trucks, the city Department of Environmental Protection says so far it has not received any complaints.

The agency has received 19 air quality complaints since 2010, but inspectors found no violations.

Assemblyman Micah Kellner said the MTA as owner of the site has to force its contractors to comply.

 

"I think it's going to take a lawsuit and people calling for construction to stop because one thing MTA has said, it wants to get this done by hook or by crook," said Kellner.

NY1 offered to show the MTA its video of the trucks, but the station was told the agency did not have time to view it.

MTA officials say they will remind contractors about the regulations.

 

With Video - http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/158835/ny1-exclusive--mta-contractors-mishandle-debris-from-second-avenue-construction

[Tokkemon]

*rolls eyes*

 

Its a little bit of dust! Get over it people!

[pelhamlocal]

My question is, that how is it the greatest city in the world, can build a sufficient subway system in 4 short years, but to create a new line on that system, around 80 or so years, it just Baffles me.

Edited April 13, 2012 by pelhamlocal

[Threxx]

My question is, that how is it the greatest city in the world, can build a sufficient subway system in 4 short years, but to create a new line on that system, around 80 or so years, it just Baffles me.

 

 

That's my question as well. The SAS is shorter than the original subway segment... unions and everything tie things up...

[NX Express]

I doubt people would put up with this in today's world.

 

Image credit columbia.edu

Edited April 13, 2012 by NX Express

[CDTA]

With the SAS extension of the coming closer and closer, it is being rumored that the will return, so Astoria can continue to have two lines. This will reverse all of the cuts done by the 2010 doomsday cuts. Except, the West End Line. The West End Line will still only have one line. So, why not extend the down to Bay Parkway, to replace the ?

[IRT Bronx Express]

Even if it were to be true, what would be the point of sending the to Bay Parkway if the had low ridership on the West End line? Sending it to 9th Av would make sense, to help out the at 4th Av.

[Shortline Bus]

Since this is related to the SAS CDTA suggestion/question is being moved & merged to the SAS thread.

[KeystoneRegional]

Well, according to the surrounding area north of 96th St. and pre-existing tunnels, Phase II could be built on time, however it all depends on the , the Contracters, local CBD's and City Hall. I do hope Phase II gets built on time, but still the first have to secure funding for Phase II, it looks like, for now, Phase II is going to be built due to political interest, however we don't know what lays in the future.

[Brighton Express]

Well, according to the surrounding area north of 96th St. and pre-existing tunnels, Phase II could be built on time, however it all depends on the , the Contracters, local CBD's and City Hall. I do hope Phase II gets built on time, but still the first have to secure funding for Phase II, it looks like, for now, Phase II is going to be built due to political interest, however we don't know what lays in the future.

 

 

WAIT WAIT WAIT.

 

Pre-existing tunnels?

[GojiMet86]

WAIT WAIT WAIT.

 

Pre-existing tunnels?

 

 

The City started building segments in the 1970s, when they were building the subway. That's why many people believe Phase II will be the easiest to build, since there are already tunnels there.

[Guest Lance]

The locations of the tunneled sections are from 99th to 105th Streets and 110th to 120th Streets. There was also a section dug out in lower Manhattan but it won't be used under current "plans" for the line.

[CenSin]

The locations of the tunneled sections are from 99th to 105th Streets and 110th to 120th Streets. There was also a section dug out in lower Manhattan but it won't be used under current "plans" for the line.

If they somehow end up bypassing the existing tunnels in lower Manhattan with a new tunnel, I'd congratulate the MTA for owning the most expensive storage area in the city, because I don't see this segment being used for anything else after the fact.

[Eric B]

It would be used by for some ancillary purpose.

[Brighton Express]

The City started building segments in the 1970s, when they were building the subway. That's why many people believe Phase II will be the easiest to build, since there are already tunnels there.

 

 

Thts wassup chief