March/April 2021 - 16

COVER

STORY

Excavation for new electrical
substation on East 14th Street

Novel Excavation Support for NYC Subway Improvements
The devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 caused serious
damage to the Canarsie Tunnel, the main subway line
between Brooklyn and Manhattan that carries the L Line. In
2016, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-New York
City Transit (MTA-NYCT) awarded a multimillion-dollar
contract to a joint venture (JV) between Judlau Contracting
and TC Electric for rehabilitating the damaged infrastructure.
As part of the project that was an Outstanding Project
Award runner up, the MTA-NYCT originally planned to close
the line for up to 18 months to perform tunnel repairs. This
would have impacted more than 300,000 New York City
commuters. In 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo convened a
panel of engineering experts from Columbia and Cornell
universities, who determined a full shutdown could be
avoided by implementing innovative technology and
construction methods. Their proposed approach was
implemented, allowing MTA-NYCT to continue regular
weekday L train service throughout tunnel repairs, while
avoiding a massive disruption. The work inside the tunnel
was ultimately completed six months ahead of schedule and

AUTHORS

at a lower-than-expected cost. The revised tunnel repairs
approach was a well-publicized success story for the New
York State governor's office.
The overall project also included much-needed core
capacity improvements to subway stations at both the
Manhattan and Brooklyn ends of the Canarsie Tunnel. The
core capacity work in Manhattan included constructing new
stairway entrances and Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA)-compliant elevators to improve passenger access to the
First Avenue Subway Station, and constructing a new
electrical substation near the existing tunnel at Avenue B. The
substation would allow more trains on the L Line to
accommodate increased ridership. This work required
extensive excavations and utility relocations along East 14th
Street in Manhattan to construct new entrances and a
substation - while maintaining traffic access and
uninterrupted subway service in this busy area. The
innovative methods for excavation and groundwater cut off
while constructing the new structures adjacent to the
existing tunnel are the focus of this article.

Sitotaw Y. Fantaye, P.E., Alice Arana, P.E., and Sean Butler, P.E., Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers

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March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2021

TOC
March/April 2021 - Intro
March/April 2021 - 1
March/April 2021 - 2
March/April 2021 - TOC
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