Second Avenue Subway - Construction Status

Construction Status

In March 2007, the MTA awarded a contract for constructing the tunnels between 92nd and 63rd Streets, a launch box for the tunnel boring machine (TBM) at 92nd to 95th Streets, and access shafts at 69th and 72nd Streets. This contract, valued at $337 million, was awarded to a joint venture of Schiavone Construction, Skanska USA Civil and San Francisco-based J.F. Shea Construction.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the first phase of the Second Avenue subway was held on April 12, 2007. Actual construction work began, on the surface of Second Avenue between 91st and 95th Streets, on April 23, 2007.

On May 28, 2009, the MTA awarded a $303.8 million contract to E.E. Cruz and Tully Construction Co., a Joint Venture and LLC, to construct the 96th Street station box. Work began in July on site clearing and utility relocation necessary to prepare for the installation of slurry walls between 95th and 99th Streets where the station connects to the existing tunnel section built in the 1970s.

In June 2009, the first of three contracts for the 86th Street Station was awarded for the advance utility relocation work and construction of cut and cover shaft areas at 83rd and 86th Streets. This contract provided two vertical starter shafts that will be used by a subsequent contractor to excavate the station cavern in the rock between 83rd and 86th Streets.

On June 5, 2009 an apartment building at 1772 Second Avenue was evacuated by the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) after it was determined that the building was in danger of collapse. Then on June 29, 2009 the DOB evacuated a mixed use building at 1768 Second Avenue/301 East 92nd Street because it too was in danger of collapse. The evacuation of these two buildings has delayed the contractor's plan to use controlled blasting to remove bedrock in the southern section of the launch box. Until the blasting permits could be issued, MTA required contractors to use mechanical equipment to remove the bedrock, which is slower than blasting out the rock. As of late October, 2009, one building has been shored up, and work is in progress on the second; MTA has rescheduled blasting to begin during the week of November 2.

On October 1, 2010, MTA awarded a $431 million contract to SSK Constructors (a joint venture) for the mining of the tunnels connecting the 72nd St station to the existing 63rd Street station, and for the excavation and heavy civil structures of the 72nd St Station. Subsequent contracts will be awarded for the following: excavation of the cavern at 86th Street Station; architectural and mechanical and electrical work at 72nd, 86th and 96th Street Stations; rehabilitation of the 63rd Street Station; and the Systems Contract (track, signals and communications) for the entire Phase 1 area. On January, MTA awarded Judlau Contracting a 40-month, $176,400,000 contract to rebuild and enlarge the Lexington Ave/63rd Street Station.

The MTA and its contractors on the project meet on a regular basis with the Manhattan Community Board 8 Second Avenue Subway Task Force and Manhattan Community Board 11 to report on construction progress and to seek input from the community. The MTA maintains a Construction Look Ahead web page that summarizes the planned construction activity for the next three weeks.

On May 14, 2010, the Tunnel Boring Machine was started at the Second Avenue Subway launch box at 96th Street. The TBM dug at a rate of approximately 50 feet per day; the TBM finished its run at the planned endpoint under 65th Street on February 5, 2011. S3 partially disassembled the TBM and backed it out of the tunnel. It was repositioned in the east starter tunnel to begin boring again. Because the east side of Second Avenue has some soft ground not compatible with the Robbins TBM, ground-freezing was undertaken to prepare the soil for the TBM. On March 28, 2011, S3, having completed its task of completing the 7,200-foot (2,200 m) west tunnel to 65th Street, began drilling the east tunnel, with the first 200 feet (61 m) being through soil frozen by S3 using calcium chloride fed through a network of pipes. The TBM drilling the east tunnel will negotiate the curve onto 63rd Street and break through the bellmouth at the existing 63rd St subway station. The portion of the west tunnel remaining to be created will be mined using conventional drill-and-blast methods, because the curve S3 construction teams would have to negotiate is too tight for the TBM.

On September 22, 2011, the TBM completed its run to the 63rd Street Station bellmouth; MTA will disassemble and remove the TBM by locomotive and begin installing a concrete liner

The west tunnel from 65 Street to the BMT 63rd Street Line is the responsibility of SSK.

Estimated completion schedules have provided much fodder for critics. The most recent proposed construction schedule has the Second Avenue Subway open for passenger service in 2016. Other recent publications have listed expected construction dates as follows:

• 2007–16: Phase 1 (96th St. to 63rd St.) State Funding In-Place, Federal Funding Approved. In its 2008 capital improvement budget proposal, the MTA pushed back completion of Phase 1 from 2014 to 2015. In 2009 the MTA pushed it back again to 2016.
• Phase 2 (125th St. to 96th St.) Engineering ongoing. No funding commitments.
• Phase 3 (63rd St. to Houston St.) Engineering ongoing. No funding commitments.
• Phase 4 (Houston St. to Hanover Square) Engineering ongoing. No funding commitments.