Halfway There on A Train Project
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Rockaway Stuff
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By Katie McFadden
We haven’t heard too many complaints since the A train shutdown began in mid-January, besides maybe the ferry being a little busier. And we’re more than halfway to the finish line as the shutdown is expected to end in mid-May, when construction on the Hammels Wye and the South Channel Bridge wraps up. The MTA provides weekly updates by e-mail and Lawrence Clark of “Those Guys Aerial” has been monitoring the progress by drone, so we’re sharing a bit of both.
In some good news, the MTA reports that they’re on schedule! By March 11, contractors had finished installing the steel girders that support the elevated track bed in the new Hammels Wye. By March 18, they had the concrete decking on top of the new steel. This week, they started placing ballast on the concrete decking of the Hammels Wye. Ballast is chopped up rock that acts as a stabilizing base for the tracks and rail.
Simultaneously, they’ve been working on the South Channel bridge part of the project, replacing the complex instruments that allow the South Channel Bridge to swing open and close. The bridge had been lashed or put in the open position since February but in mid-March, they worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to close the bridge as the S trains running up and down the peninsula required their routine inspection, which is done every 90 days in a maintenance area off of the peninsula. In order to close the bridge, since rehabilitation for the machinery is underway, the project team had to crank the bridge closed by hand. As the bridge was closed, they got the trains where they needed to be for inspections. When the project is complete, the MTA will have a control panel that allows operators to manipulate the bridge’s position at the touch of a few buttons.
For weekly updates on the project, sign up for the MTA’s weekly e-mail at: https://cloud.info.mta.org/rockaway-updates. Clark has also regularly been sharing his drone photos of the progress on the Friends of Rockaway Beach Facebook page.
Photos by Lawrence Clark.
