Quote:
Originally Posted by DCCliff
It's my understanding that the incredible intricacy of the new tunnel link connection the 63rd St tunnel trackage into the Sunnyside yards area is the big time element remaining. Tunneling is going under active elevated structures, streets, and other active rail lines just after they emerge from the Penn Sta tunnels. The emergence from the 63rd St tunnel is being arranged so its train traffic does not have to cross any other existing traffic at grade. If you've walked around the area at all, it is a truly awesome (tho organized) mess!
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yes, the last tunnels bored were the FOUR tunnels under Sunnyside Yards, Queens. Those TBMs (long since gone) were launched from what is called the Q-tip excavation in Long Island City, just east of 25A, between 41st Ave and 40th Rd. The Plaza Interlocking structures (concrete & steel walls, floors, roofs, etc.) are now being built within the Q-tip (the Q-tip has at least two levels). The Q-tip excavation connects west underground through a recently built tunnel under 25A (& the L above 25A) to the extended 63rd St tunnels that lead to Manhattan.
The subsidence problems that were publicized by Newsday et al are related to Harold Interlocking, which extends along the south side of Sunnyside yards and under Honeywell and 39th streets. Harold is a VERY active interlocking, which is also being upgraded with a another pair of tracks so that Amtrak can bypass a good deal of the new switching for the LIRR's ESA, etc.
The snip of page 15 (below) from the Jan 2014 ESA report gives a brief description of Harold Interlocking work, but leaves out the micro-tunnels that are being jacked under this area:
http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/d...Report_ESA.pdf
Anyway, this shows a very small slice of the work for ESA and gives you an inkling on how large a project this is. The spread in the various forecasts for the ESA open-for-revenue service date also gives an idea that speculation about east-of-Hudson Metro-North service into NY Penn is pure speculation since it should not feasible till the 2020s. And LOTS of other events can influence the priority of bringing east-of-Hudson MN into Penn...