December 2, 2008
LIRR tunnels toward Grand Central
A cavernous hole deep under East 63rd Street was recently blasted open, leaving just enough room to fit the tunnel boring machine that will dig 50 feet a day through Manhattan bedrock all the way to Grand Central Terminal.
The work was the first big step in what will eventually be the Long Island Rail Road's long-discussed route to the East Side. The MTA showed off the beginnings of that tunnel Thursday for the epic $6.3 billion project, which is expected to be completed in 2013.
"This is probably the largest transportation construction project in the country right now," said Mysore Nagaraja, president of MTA Capital Construction.
The plan makes use of the existing 63rd Street tunnel under the East River, which was built in the 1970s and is also used by the F Train.
An unused area beneath the F tracks under the East River will carry the LIRR trains, which will access the tunnel from the Sunnyside Yards in Queens.
Although the area of the 63rd Street tunnel that will be used by the LIRR has never carried trains or been open to the public, it's clearly already a part of New York City -- the tunnel walls are covered with graffiti.
The tricky part now is digging the tunnel the rest of the way to Grand Central.
The machine that will do the job consists of 48 cutting heads that move around in concentric circles as they eat through the stone. As it is broken down, pieces of rock about the size of "buffalo chips," according to one contractor on the site, are pulled out by a conveyor belt.
Nagaraja called the just-blasted 65-foot cavern a launching chamber for the boring machine. Parts for the machine will begin arriving this month, and will take two or three months to assemble. Actual digging won't begin until about September.
Another massive dig will take place at Grand Central, as a new concourse, built under the existing Metro-North and subway lines, is constructed to accommodate the LIRR trains.
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