East River Tunnel Sandy Rehabilitation

Is there a way to continually flush the affected tunnels with fresh water (up to including flooding them again) to get rid of the corrosive salt?

We all know the tunnels need to be rebuilt anyway and this is a convenient way to get it done, but where a closure might have a severe impact on traffic maybe its better to keep the tunnels in service while things are fixed even if it takes longer.

They really just need to work on the tunnels for a long enough period that they can make full repairs rather than patch work. It's best to do it now and not wait longer because who knows how long 100+ year old tunnels built in unstable conditions used as hard as possible forever will hold up. I wonder if the lack of trains will affect the inactive, though, as the tunnels move around quite a bit under the East River and without much movement how that might effect the surroundings of them. There haven't been many large outages in 100+ years.

Taxes and fares are going up, the bridges are falling down and due to years of neglect, the tunnels are falling apart

How is Amtrak going to pay for this? They have $1.4 B in debit and need $2.6 B in Federal Support to maintain the status quo for FY2014

For any repairs to have a chance of working, Mr. Nowakowski better get access into Grand Central first to lighten the load at Penn

All the $$$ "spent" on solar could've built a new set of tunnels...

Amtrak went to court with the Insurance Companies,insurance wants a cap on payments,Amtrak wants more $$$$
to cover repairs.If the cables are that bad,that brackish water from the East River has already started to turn back
the concrete and rebar into dirt and possible EPA issues when the rehab starts. :(

How can a cable full of salt water pass a megger (insulation resistance) test? And let's say they did just barely pass... What's going to happen when they do their periodic re-test those wet cables next? They stand a good chance of having to replace them anyway.

After reading the Don Phillips column on Amtrak management, I'd bet that no one even listened to the boots on the ground.-Or worse: maybe the people who know better have learned to stop bringing their better ideas up the management chain in the first place.

I'd take Mr. Phillips columns with a grain of salt. He is easily the best example of a railfan knowing more than the railroad, but because he's published, he's perceived as an expert.

Bottom line: this is not 1908 anymore. The [North River & East River] tunnels were a modern marvel when they were completed then, but after 105 years, the world is a different place.

A bit off topic, but anyone who considers building new tunnels should take a look at the latest public works project -- the Tappan Zee Bridge

Junior is still figuring out a way to pay for it and after the election, the cluebies who drive over the bridge, will be "shocked" to find the new toll is $20.00 to cross

Is there any work scheduled on one of the East River tunnels this year? I know that work is supposed to start soon and one or two of the tunnels has to be closed for rehabilitation.

That's a question for Amtrak.

NYCrails wrote:That's a question for Amtrak.

Sorry, I wish I can move this topic to the Amtrak forum but I can't do that.

Is there any work scheduled on one of the East River tunnels this year? I know that work is supposed to start soon and one or two of the tunnels has to be closed for rehabilitation.

Yes, Amtrak has been actively working in the tunnels on nights and weekends to bring them up to a state of good repair. They also plan on post-Sandy repairs and "hardening" work in the near future.