How to Dig a Water Tunnel between Staten Island and Brooklyn
Back in April, we introduced you to Pat, the tunnel-boring machine that will be digging a siphon or water transmission main from Staten Island to Brooklyn, which will become the Staten Island Water Siphon—the biggest NYC infrastructure project you haven’t heard of.
For engineering enthusiasts and anyone who’s interested in the mechanics of siphon construction, we’ve procured the above animation that shows exactly how the 110-ton, 300-foot-long tunnel boring machine will drill a distance of nearly two miles, 100 feet beneath the New York Harbor seabed.
The earth pressure bound tunnel-boring machine, being used for the first time in NYC as it is made specifically for use in soft ground as opposed to bedrock, will constantly move forward and simultaneously build the tunnel four feet at a time, repeating this process 2,360 times, with crews constantly building train tracks to transport workers, equipment, and dirt to and from the mouth of a tunnel.
When finished, the water siphon will allow for the removal of two existing tunnels that are currently at a much shallower depth. This in turn will enable the dredging and deepening of the Anchorage Channel, a process that is critical for accommodating increased cargo volumes and larger vessels in future years.
Find out more about this $250 million infrastructure project to spur economic development in New York Harbor.
Video courtesy of CDM/HMM Joint Venture
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