The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has reached a construction milestone on the East Side Access megaproject with the completion of the Queens’ tunnel in New York.
MTA has completed construction of the Queen’s tunnel, which involved excavation of a 120-feet long tunnel. The project was undertaken by a joint venture of Schiavone Construction and Kiewit Corporation and entailed an outlay of $96.8 million.
The newly-built tunnel has been merged with Manhattan’s tunnel. The merger of the two recently constructed tunnels created a continuous tunnel, which is more than three and a half miles long. The two tunnels meet at underneath Northern Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens.
The continuous tunnel begins at a cavern, 12-stories below the Grand Central Terminal to four concrete-lined, 22-feet diameter tunnels under the Sunnyside rail yard in Queens.
In the next phase of development, the continuous tunnel will be connected to the Long Island Rail Road main line. The East Side Access megaproject is expected to be completed by August 2019.