More Boring Photos

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The entrance to the East Side Access work site in Sunnyside, Queens

Last week, MTA PR man Jeremy Soffin sent along an interesting news blip about the gigantic tunnel boring machine chewing up the schist beneath 60th Street in Manhattan for the MTA’s East Side Access project. It turns out that blogger Michael Frumin knows "a guy" who’s working on that project. Frumin visited the tunnel entrance in Sunnyside, Queens and snapped a bunch of photos that give you some sense of the humongousness of the project. 

The overriding feeling I had throughout was of being inside, around, and on top of a Sandworm in the novel Dune. What really impressed me was the number of people necessary just to put one of these things together, and the enthusiasm of all the people working on the project (sweating it out under 200 feet of bedrock).

  • Not a Bore

    Frickin’ awesome!

    I need to get me one of those!

  • Andy B from Jersey

    The 30+ years old but never used LIRR tunnel under the East River?!?!?!?!

    Please, someone explain!

  • Angus Grieve-Smith

    Andy, the tunnel was finished in 1973, but not hooked up to anything:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/nyregion/11tunnel.html

  • Angus Grieve-Smith
  • paulb

    Great photo, awesome project. I wonder where all the dirt that’s hauled out is going? Same question for the Second Avenue subway. I once read the excavated dirt for the original IRT was used as landfill for–maybe enlarging Governor’s Island? I can’t remember properly now.

  • My, what a goofy bit of planner humor your headline is! Yay streetsblog for brightening my day with boring photos!

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