NYCT to fast-track Canarsie Tunnel repairs

MTA New York City Transit's (NYCT) rehabilitation of the Hurricane Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel is expected to wrap up in 15 months instead of 18, the agency announced yesterday.

Under a $477 million contract with Judlau Contracting Inc. and TC Electric, the firms will receive an additional $15 million for completing the repairs in 15 months, NYCT officials said in a press release.

The tunnel, which connects the L rail line between Brooklyn and Manhattan, is now scheduled to close for the repairs in April 2019.

Hurricane Sandy flooded the Canarsie Tunnel with 7 million gallons of saltwater, causing extensive damage to the tunnel's tracks, signals, switches power cables, signal cables, communication cables, lighting, cable ducts and bench walls along a 7,100-foot-long section.

To expedite the repair and reconstruction process, NYCT will implement procedures to ensure the project advances in a "fast-tracked fashion similar to the expedited nature of design-build projects," agency officials said.

The work includes demolition and reconstruction of about 60,000 linear feet of duct banks, 14,400 linear feet of track and track bed, and 270,000 linear feet of cable ducts and associated cable.

The rehab project also calls for repairing 7,000 linear feet of concrete lining and installing tunnel lighting and fire systems.

The Canarsie Tunnel will be protected from future storms with resilient cables and ducts, along with the installation of a new discharge line, NYCT officials said.

In July 2016, NYCT announced plans to completely close the tunnel for 18 months. The agency also considered closing one track at a time, which would have caused the project to take three years.

To learn about NYCT's other efforts to repair and fortify its system after Hurricane Sandy, read this feature from Progressive Railroading's November 2016 issue.