East River Tunnel At 63rd Street - A Film Report (1971)

[Music] the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was created to provide faster and more comfortable transportation for the people of this region major engineering problems were involved in the recent MTA decision to add 52 Mi of new track to the system the biggest problem how to relieve the pressure on existing East River bridg and tunnels with a new crossing a Crossing that could handle half a million rail passengers a day between Manhattan and queens the solution to the problem a remarkable twole tunnel that would run under the East River and Through welfare Island [Music] oh [Music] the first task is to reach the level of the tunnel two construction shafts are excavated one on welfare Island and one in Queensbridge park each shaft is deep enough to contain a 10-story building alongside the queen shaft excavation also is begun for an electrical substation of the Long Island Railroad 10,000 cubic yards of soft overburden are removed the water table lies only 10 ft beneath the surface in Queensbridge Park a single large Coffer Dam encloses both the shaft and the substation excavation steel sheet piles are driven tightly together to support the Earth sides and minimize the inflow of groundwater some 500 ft of the tunnel will run under Queens at a depth of 90 ft four seacus tubes will Traverse the East River length by a 650 ft tunnel through welfare Island the welfare Island shaft is sunk at the edge of the West Channel this cfer dam is sealed with concrete to prevent flooding overb birden is hoisted out in a battleship bucket problem the loose strata beneath the op burden split easily and explosions within 10 ft of the Coffer Dam may carry through and undermine it solution the shaft is dynamited in 10t layers or lifts with no blasting within 10 ft of the coffa dam this rock was excavated by mechanical means for the first two lifts when the tunnel is completed these construction shafts will provide space for ventilation emergency exits and utility cables a boat with a drill Tower BS blast hols in the river bottom a dredge brings up the loose muck on a 24-hour basis they are digging the trench across the West channel into which two of the underwater tubes will be sunk operations here are Complicated by heavy River traffic a four tile shifts each day and by a current that sometimes reaches six knots three large construction companies are sharing the $ 69.5 million primary contract for the 63rd Street tunnel Peter KT sons of omahan Nebraska Morrison Newson of boiseidaho and Slattery Associates of New York City an important subcontract has been awarded to Wy Manufacturing Company of Port Deposit Maryland to construct the steel hulls of the four underwater tubes precise prefabrication is the key to the Wy operation steel plates and ribs are welded into about 90 subassemblies which are then assembled into the 375 ft shell for each tube using ship building techniques 10 K panels are laid on the shipway Hood plates attached to the two mid rer bulkheads will lock the tubes underwater 20 side panels are welded on and 10 top panels the cross-sectional dimensions a 40t square cross braces are installed separating the upper level which will carry Transit Authority trains from the lower where Long Island railroad trains will run added next reinforcing steel and conduits for electric cabl after water type bulkhead seal both ends of the tube it is ready for phase two concrete outfitting that will turn the shell into the finished tube this cut has now been completed they are beginning the second cut the third cut is completed the fourth and Final Cut is beginning MTA chairman William Ronin and members of the board are on hand as the first tube is launched into the sasana river for its Voyage to the outfitting site in Norfolk [Music] Virginia graciously hear us O Lord in these our supplications and vake to bestow thy blessing upon this tunnel protect it also both here and on its way to its final destination we ask through Christ Our Lord amen we appreciate very much indeed the work which has been done so well on schedule by the Wy management and officers and to QT Morrison and Slattery and our congratulations to the Workman who have so successfully launched the first section of our tunnel while the first two blies in the outfitting dock in Northfolk Virginia a large drill boat anchors just off wilfur Island the landward ends of the tubes will rest in rock niches blasted from the sloping river banks these drills bite into the Rock 100 ft under the surface of the river as a precautionary safety measure charges are not detonated while men are at work in the welfare island tunnel just a few hundred ft to the east inside welfare Island the dimension of the excavation is enlarged to create a cavern 615 ft long with a roof 75 ft high in some areas this huge hole will accommodate the welfare Island subway station and access escalators an upper drift first establish the root of the station excavation can then proceed in descending levels a precise pattern of holes permits the most Rock to be moved with the least amount of explosives first a cut shot is drilled at its vertex a cluster of holes form a V when the charges are fired the V opens toward the surface making an exit or a relief area for surrounding Rock dynamite and Blasting caps are kept above ground in separate guarded magazines until the holes are ready detonators afford the critical measure of control in the blasting pattern the relief area is fired first and then the surrounding [Music] [Applause] [Music] Rock the excavated cut shot serves as the relief for blasting the adjacent wall steel ribs support the tunnel roof which is 70 ft wide 105 men working three ships Around the Clock extend the upper Drift 3 and 1/2 ft each day [Music] down in nor folk the track slab is fitted with a final steel grid that will be incorporated into the concrete walls each tube will gain 15,000 tons of concrete in this process lines from the concrete pump will supply opposite sections of the wall simultaneously thus the tube will remain level during the pouring process cement is pumped directly from truck to batching plant aggregate is dumped into the loading bin and convey to the mixer the touch of a button controls the blend concrete is pumped at 1 cubic yard per minute over the gang way down the drop pipe between the steel forms after the concrete hardens forms are removed and transferred to the next tube docked alongside meantime a specially outfitted barge arrives to screed or to level the fist-sized rocks that will constitute the trench floor a traveler set to the gradient spans the pontoons of the barge a problem in this operation is that powerful underwater currents can swirl the screed rock out of the trench underwater dkes to Shield the trenches and later the tubes from the river currs are used shortly before midnight on May 13th 1971 one a tugboat eases alongside the first tube in Chesapeake Bay the seal tube 40 ft high is floating only 2 ft above the surface a model test has been performed to determine the seaworthiness of the 16,000 ton tube it is stable against 15t waves hurricane conditions in deep water the toe cable is attached still haers are burnt and pred apart the tugboats in the tube set out for New York on the flood tide 4 and 1/2 days later they arrive to a grand reception in the New York [Music] Harbor said this has been a long time coming hasn't County and people have been waiting for years for the tunnel to twens and here it is is the first section of the prefabricated tunnel it's come all the way from Maryland and Virginia up to these Shores it left last uh Friday at 12:01 and it's been that sea all this time being towed by tugs as we stand there all we see is really the top of the tunnel because there's 40 ft of uh diameter of this tunnel and barely about 2 ft showing so it's like a big Iceberg most of it's underwater but uh when people are actually going through this tube which they will be in a few years in subways New Subway to Queens which certainly uh Sid you're going to be pleased with and new Long Island Railroad service to East Midtown Manhattan it's going to be interesting to look back on this day with the first section arriving here so this is a banner day [Music] when this massive tube is literally and figuratively put in place it will Mark the beginning of this vast network of Transit improvements 52 new miles of Subway a new Long Island railroad line into the east of Manhattan with a new terminal and many other major transportation improvements in this the world's largest metropolitan Center and the greatest rail network so we greet the tube as it comes under the verito bridge welcome and I think it deserves a round of applause for arriving about on [Music] [Applause] time, 1500 tons of stone will be piled at top each tube to sink it into the trench it will be guided into position using laser beams for alignment though 100 ft down in the murky River there's an allowable deviation of only 1 in laterally and 3 in vertically all four tubes will be in place before the end of 1971 the 63rd Street tunnel is underway a Monumental MTA project carried out with care and precision by 1976 it will be in daily use [Music]