Glimpse of the Future Second Avenue Subway

Deep beneath the Upper East Side, workers are digging out what will become the stations of the Second Avenue Subway. The MTA this week released dramatic pictures showing the progress of the $4.6 billion mega-project, offering a view from 160 feet below the streets of Manhattan. The photos include shots of the tunnels at the future 86th Street station, where the excavation and lining contract is almost 65% complete.

Progress has also been made at the future 96th Street station. The contract for main site work there — relocating utilities, installing concrete slabs for the station’s outer shell and excavating entrances — will be fully complete this week.

The MTA says the stations, along with a third one at 72nd Street, are on track to open by December 2016.

The MTA says the construction of the Second Avenue subway is on track and released 22 photos showing the progress being made at two new stations.

The photos, which were taken throughout the month of October, reveal the latest construction happenings at the 86th and 96th Street stations. According to the MTA, the impressive project, which will bring more public transportation to Manhattan's East side, is on track to be completed by December 2016.

At the future 96th Street station, crews are finishing the main site contract work — including excavation, relocating gas and water pipes, and putting in concrete walls to hold the structure together. Visible are the first rails delivered for the project, which happened to arrive that day.

Photos can't convey the awe you feel when you step out of an elevator into the 65-foot-tall cavern that will become the 86th Street station

Construction on the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, which will cost an estimated $4.8 billion, began in 2007. Local residents and business have complained about the noise, pollution and other violations that the massive project has brought to the area.

[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Mar 23, 2013]
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Feb 03, 2013]

The Second Avenue Subway will have no subway grates. It will employ a dedicated ventilation system which is, in part, necessitated by how deep it is.

The new line is expected to reduce overcrowding along the Lexington Avenue line.

The MTA has said that from the day it opens, the line will have a daily ridership of 200,000, alleviating congestion on the 4, 5, and 6 trains.

Presently, the Lexington Avenue line has a daily ridership greater than all of Chicago and Boston's subways combined.

When the first phase opens, there will be four stations of Q train service, bringing the line from the existing station at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue to the new station at 72nd Street and 2nd Avenue, and up to new stations at 86th Street and 96th Street.

Future portions of the subterranean endeavor will stretch the line up to 125th Street, down to Houston Street, and further down to Hanover Square. The Second Avenue line running from 125th Street to Hanover Square will be known as the T train.

While nothing surprising was found during excavation, portions of the project had unstable rock, which was then shored up by freezing it to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers also found remnants of both the hops dumped by the old breweries of the Upper East Side, and the supports for the old Second Avenue El.

Check out the impressive photos

And finally, a little trivia:
It's estimated that 55,000 elephants could fit in the 72nd Street station.


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