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Community Corner

Mass Transit Construction Projects in New York City Create Quality of Life Improvements for Commuters

Contractor to be honored at international CONEXPO-CON/AGG equipment exposition for making a significant difference for the community’s quality of life

By Michael Buller

When your daily commute involves millions of people, part of your quality of life depends on how efficiently you can get to work and, more importantly, how easily you can get home. For many in the New York City area, that means trains and subways.

Expanding the biggest mass transit system in the U.S. will dramatically cut commute times for many New Yorkers and create more conveniently located subway stations for those traveling to and from the city’s East Side, all while reducing overcrowding and delays for millions of transit riders.

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The Second Avenue Subway project, in progress since April 2007, introduces a new north-south, full-length subway line in New York City stretching from 125th Street in the Bronx to the Financial District in Lower Manhattan. For those who live and work in neighborhoods situated further east on Long Island, that means four new convenient subway stations closer to their homes and workplaces and the elimination of the hassle of traversing long avenue blocks to the Lexington Avenue Line. The project will also give travelers on the Lexington Avenue Line a better ride – with less crowded trains and fewer delays. The first phase of the project is expected to cost approximately $4.5 billion by the time it is completed in December 2016.

However, expenses are only part of the equation. The Second Avenue Subway project broke ground in 2007 and in two years generated $2.87 billion in total economic activity, according to an estimate at the time. By 2009 it was estimated that the East Side Access project, which is projected to cost $8.3 billion, had already created $4 billion in economic activity.

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Construction Makes Our Quality of Life

Meanwhile, the East Side Access project will connect Long Island Railroad’s (LIRR) Main and Port Washington lines in Queens to a new LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central Station on Manhattan’s East Side, increasing the commuter railroad’s capacity into the city and shortening travel time by 30 to 40 minutes for Queens and Long Island passengers headed for the East Side of Manhattan. The LIRR is the country’s largest suburban commuter railroad, presently carrying more than 300,000 passengers every day – most of them into and out of Penn Station, the nation’s busiest mass transit hub, which presently serves LIRR on Manhattan’s West Side. Once the East Side Access project is completed, Long Island/Queens commuters traveling to the East Side of Manhattan will no longer need to transfer to a bus or subway line, or hike any number of city blocks from the west to east sides of the island.

Flushing, N.Y.-based Ferrara Brothers Building Materials Corp., the concrete supplier for both projects, has already poured 100,000 yards of concrete for the Second Avenue Subway project and is excited to be “working on a project that will improve the reliability of public transportation for so many New Yorkers,’ says Ferrara Brothers Vice President of Operations Bob Gartman. In business since 1969, Ferrara was chosen, Gartman says, because, “The timing for these jobs is very important and the biggest things we sell are service and quality. That’s what Ferrara is known for.’

Concrete Work Keeps Tunnels Dry and Creates Jobs

Since the first phase of the subway project has been underway, Ferrara has poured concrete for the tunnels that will provide service from 96th to 63rd streets, as well as for several station platforms and the station exits. By the time the East Side Access project is completed, the company will have poured approximately 390,000 cubic yards of concrete—some of it traditional form and some shotcrete (where the concrete is sprayed onto the tunnel walls through a hose using a pressurized air system). While the company worked with Madrid, Spain-based Dragados to develop 10,000 PSI shotcrete for these projects, Ferrara alone sprays the shotcrete, installs a heavy liner, then pours the form concrete, making the tunnel water tight. “Some people ask why you need concrete in solid bedrock,’ says Gartman, who points out that they are using this method for both of the mass transit construction projects. “The answer is: you don’t want water dripping into the tunnel.’ The concrete work on the platforms and the station ceiling was completed this August.

According to the U.S. Representative whose 12th district encompasses both projects, in the first two years the Second Avenue work created over 16,000 jobs, generating $842 million in total wages. By 2009 it was estimated that the East Side Access had already created 22,000 jobs and $4 billion in economic activity.

New York Area Commuters Know Quality of Life When They See It

But economic numbers alone don’t tell the story. For New Yorkers like Morgan McGarry, who now commutes daily into Manhattan from Astoria, Queens, the LIRR’s direct access to Grand Central Station will make it easier to get into and out of the city, providing an easy connection to northbound trains for travelers heading into New York City from Long Island and points east. When McGarry was a student at Hofstra University on Long Island, the inconvenience of traveling into Manhattan and having to transfer from Penn Station, LIRR’s final stop, to Grand Central Station via a subway, kept her from going home to Beacon, NY, 65 miles north of New York City, on weekends. “Lugging my bags through all the trains and stations was too exhausting,’ McGarry says. “If the LIRR had been connected with Grand Central, it would have made my trip so much easier.’

The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway project will provide service from 96th to 63rd streets and offer new subway stations at 96th, 88th, 72nd and 63rd streets. When completed in December 2016, the subway line will serve 200,000 daily riders and decrease crowding on the Lexington Avenue Line by as much as 13 percent, or 23,500 fewer riders on an average weekday.

McGarry is also eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Second Avenue Subway. She recalls when she worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery located on the East River and 70th Street. “The closest subway was four [long] avenue blocks away from the hospital,’ she says, which added “a frustrating ten minutes’ to her daily commute. “I spent 8 weeks on crutches one year, and knowing I had to crutch my way those four blocks was dreadful,’ she says. “I can’t tell you how much easier my life would have been if the Second Avenue Subway was open.’

The LIRR’s East Side Access will draw an estimated 160,000 commuters onto the railroad by the time it is completed in 2019. LIRR passengers will detrain onto four new platforms lying 150 feet underneath Grand Central Station.

For the 8 million people living in Manhattan and the millions more commuting in, the two mass transportation projects, Gartman says, will make it easier for people to take public transportation, and easier for them to get to work.

For contributions to our quality of life, Ferrara Brothers Building Materials Corp. will be recognized at North America’s largest construction equipment trade show, CONEXPO-CON/AGG. A company representative and one guest will receive a free trip to the show in Las Vegas in March 2014.

At CONEXPO-CON/AGG, they will see all the innovative new equipment that will continue to support their work for better living brought to you by the men and women of the construction industries.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG is the international gathering place in North America for the construction industries. The event features exhibits of the latest technologies and innovations in equipment, products and services plus extensive industry-targeted education. The next CONEXPO-CON/AGG is March 4-8, 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA. More than 100,000 attendees are expected. For more information about CONEXPO-CON/AGG, visit www.conexpoconagg.com.

Tell Us About Yours

The contractors in the stories here are going to Vegas, March 2014, for CONEXPO-CON/AGG at CONEXPO-CON/AGG’S expense. Tell us about your project, or a project you know about. If you know of a project that deserves recognition, please fill out the online form or send an email to Rich Jefferson (rjefferson@conexpoconagg.com) or Project Manager Mike Porcaro (mporcaro@conexpoconagg.com). If you prefer the phone, call Rich on his direct line at 414-298-4122.

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