East Side Access TBM dedication

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials dedicated two slurry TBMs earlier this month.

The two TBMs were commissioned to excavate four tunnels under Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York, for the East Side Access project. The drives will connect the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road Main Line with the tunnels under the East River that leads to Grand Central Terminal.

The TBMs were 22ft (6.71m) in diameter, 300ft (91.44m) long and weighed approximately 642 tons including the trailing gear of storage tanks, electrical support and exhaust fans.

In contrast to the tunnel boring machines being used to cut through Manhattan bedrock, these were set up to deal with Sunnyside geology of a soil mixture of sand, clay and boulders with a high water table.

The machines were named Tess and Molina by sixth graders at the Oliver Wendell Holmes School, in Long Island City. Construction will begin in April under contracting the JV GTF, consisting of Granite Construction Northeast, Traylor Brothers and Frontier-Kemper Constructors.

“One hundred years ago, the tunnels under Penn Station gave Long Islanders easy access to Manhattan, essentially giving birth to Long Island as we know it today and leading to enormous growth in the region,” said MTA Chairman Jay H. Walder.

“Today, East Side Access will build on this growth and transform this region in a similar way. Commuters throughout Long Island and Queens will have more service to Manhattan and shorter travel times to the East Side—making these communities even more attractive places to live, increasing housing values, and unlocking the next wave of economic development potential on Long Island.”