NEW YORK | 10 Hudson Yards (Coach Tower) | 895 FT | 52 FLOORS - Page 11

UrbanImpressionist · #**201** Posted **Aug 29, 2013, 9:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkristof

I apologize for the nitpicking...

No worries thanks for the detailed background for what's going on down there. I see them also pulling rails and ties by one of the two sheds so that now computes.

vkristof · #**202** Posted **Aug 29, 2013, 10:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanImpressionist

No worries thanks for the detailed background for what's going on down there. I see them also pulling rails and ties by one of the two sheds so that now computes.

If anyone wants to see what 100+ year old construction underlies the current Hudson Yards , and the AP building, and forms the Amtrak pit that is being covered by Manhattan West, see below:

Cut from Plate I " Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Map and Profile" of

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
INSTITUTED 1852
TRANSACTIONS
Paper No. 1150

THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.

By Charles W. Raymond, M. Am. Soc. C. E.

The oldest tunnel that underlies the yard starts under the AP building, ~ at 10th Ave. The Empire Connection tunnel was built in the late 1980os/early 1990s. The Piers in the 1910 document no longer exist, but, AFAIK, the Hudson River bulkhead still exists.

The NYC & HRRR freight yard area was eventually replaced by the current LIRR Hudson Yards in the 1980s. This required excavation of the old 1800s Hudson River fill between 12th & 10th ave so that the old LIRR/PRR tracks north of the two tunnels at 10th Ave in the 1908? pit would have a fairly level connection to the new yard. This pit was excavated when the PRR's tunnels and Penn Station were being built pre-1910. It's last open space is now being covered over by the Manhattan West platform.

The 1910 profile view does not show today's 7th & 8th Ave subways nor the #7 train extension under 11th Ave, which will open in 2014. Nor shaft 26B of Water Tunnel #3 which extends 600 feet down west of 10th Ave. AFAIK construction of water main connections to Shaft 26B is the fenced off site at the east end of the Coach Tower construction.

vkristof · #**203** Posted **Aug 30, 2013, 2:23 AM**

If you want to see the rock profile that underlies the Coach site LESS than one block north, see below. The Tunnel profile is that for Amtrak's tunnel box whose excavation will start after the LIRR MOE building is removed.
The eastern end of the tunnel starts south of the 32nd street grid. The western end of this tunnel is at the southern limits of the existing railyard and the T-P study states it is designed for carrying the loads from the Corset Tower's northernmost columns.

Snippet is from tunnel contractor T-P's study, the dashed lines are rock profiles along tunnel's alignment. You can also see how deep the not-yet-open #7 subway extension under 11th Ave. is:

UrbanImpressionist · #**204** Posted **Sep 2, 2013, 8:29 PM**

Labor Day mist:

yankeesfan1000 · #**205** Posted **Sep 2, 2013, 9:22 PM**

Great shot. Cool to see Brookfield's Manhattan West in the background.

miesian · #**206** Posted **Sep 2, 2013, 10:47 PM**

That 450 W 33rd has to be one of the ugliest buildings in the world. Big and ugly! Damn...

ILNY · #**207** Posted **Sep 9, 2013, 3:01 AM**

j-biz · #**208** Posted **Sep 9, 2013, 11:05 AM**

^ Thanks for the beautiful pics ILNY!

Any speculation about the new orange structure?

scalziand · #**209** Posted **Sep 9, 2013, 2:39 PM**

^That's scaffolding to hold up the forms for the next floor. As you can see, the lobby is going to be pretty high.

sbarn · #**210** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 1:58 AM**

This project is about to take off!

UrbanImpressionist · #**211** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 3:28 AM**

Hey Vkristof (or anyone else) know what's going on here? It's a frequent (annoying) nightly occurrence. Are these vacuum trucks? Sucking crud out of the sewers/drainage? :

Perklol · #**212** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 4:15 AM**

When will it start to rise? If someone knows

Silverfox · #**213** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 4:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miesian

That 450 W 33rd has to be one of the ugliest buildings in the world. Big and ugly! Damn...

I have a feeling it'll actually mesh with the Hudson Yards quite well when they're finished. It'll mostly be obscured from the skyline, so don't worry.

NYguy · #**214** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 10:51 AM**

^ Check the Manhattan West thread for more on that.

As far as this tower goes, it's currently one of the most transformative developments in the City. More so than when the Conde Nast tower was built in Times Square, this immediately changes the game on the west side. It's 900 ft of game changing skyscraper...

WestSideGuy · #**215** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 12:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanImpressionist

Hey Vkristof (or anyone else) know what's going on here? It's a frequent (annoying) nightly occurrence. Are these vacuum trucks? Sucking crud out of the sewers/drainage? :

That is the preparation for the new tunnel box for Amtrak and NJT. The tunnel box has to be built first before the platform can be built over the eastern yards.

vkristof · #**216** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 4:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanImpressionist

Hey Vkristof (or anyone else) know what's going on here? It's a frequent (annoying) nightly occurrence. Are these vacuum trucks? Sucking crud out of the sewers/drainage? :

Please note that I am NOT a PE (Professional Engineer) nor a CE (Civil Engineer), though I do have a couple of friends who are.

The photo you have posted is of a couple of the Guzzler industrial vacuum loaders in action. These trucks are seen parked in in staging areas in other photos of the overall Hudson Yards.

Markcomm copy from the About Us page for GUZZLER: "Guzzler is the world's leader in industrial vacuum loaders that efficiently clean up industrial waste or recover and recycle valuable raw materials"

So the short answer to your two questions is "Yes." I would also expand the answer a bit by noting that "recover and recycle valuable raw materials" could be applied to the track ballast in the rail yard, which needs to be removed in areas that will be excavated/drilled.

Please keep those photos coming.

One of the Amtrak Gateway Tunnel box studies I skimmed was co-authored by Parsons Brinkerhoff, who is HQed @ the very nearby One Penn Plaza. According to this the water table is not far below ground surface of the yard. In addition, the storm sewers are divided into two sections due to the existence of the Empire Line Connection tunnel under the ERY.

From Nov 2012 Study, 11th Ave on left, 10th Ave on right:

Note also that part of the rail yard is defacto floodplain - the existing Amtrak Hudson River tunnel that flooded was due to SS Sandy storm surge from the Hudson River flowing east through the northern part of the rail yard, under the 10th Ave viaduct and then into the tunnel mouth under the AP building. The existing storm sewer system in the yard was inadequate to deal with the storm surge.

I also safely assume there is a decent amount of industrial pollution in this area. The 1865 Viele map snippet below shows that this area was ~half "made land"/landfill (light brown) and ~half meadow in the mid1800s. 11th Ave is the western most Ave in the snippet and is mostly made land.
9th Ave is on the right edge and the current 12th Ave was the Hudson River.

The 1874 update to this map shows the NYCentral and Hudson River RR running down 11th ave and curving to the east into this area/snippet. One spur runs east between 29th & 30th, another spur runs between 30th & 31st. The original LIRR yard design drawings date from 1982, BUT this area has had more than a 140 years of industrial activity/waste/pollution.

"Nightly occurrence" makes sense due to the various contractors and subs having to coordinate their work with the LIRR operations in the storage yard. The contractors/subs would be those for Amtrak (tunnel box) and Related/Oxford (platform over ERY).

I also ASSUME that some of the platform foundation work will involve drilling between the existing, operational LIRR tracks. I have seen recent photos of what I call a drill rig on the north side of the ERY.

Submariner · #**217** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 7:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy

^ Check the Manhattan West thread for more on that.

As far as this tower goes, it's currently one of the most transformative developments in the City. More so than when the Conde Nast tower was built in Times Square, this immediately changes the game on the west side. It's 900 ft of game changing skyscraper...

Oh, without a doubt. Hudson Yards is one of the most important developments in recent memory. In fact, I'd argue it's going to be even more important than the WTC site (unless you're looking it from a symbolic point of view) They're building an entire new neighborhood and if it's build according to the renderings, it's going to be spectacular.

That being said, I love downtown, especially in and around Battery Park. It's going to be spectacular once the WTC site is complete and the additional development around it starts.

vkristof · #**218** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 7:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Submariner

Oh, without a doubt. Hudson Yards is one of the most important developments in recent memory. In fact, I'd argue it's going to be even more important than the WTC site (unless you're looking it from a symbolic point of view) They're building an entire new neighborhood and if it's build according to the renderings, it's going to be spectacular.

That being said, I love downtown, especially in and around Battery Park. It's going to be spectacular once the WTC site is complete and the additional development around it starts.

Speaking from a suburban Long Island-centric view I think it will be bigger than the current rebuilt WTC due to it's NY Penn station/associated transportation infrastructure proximity.

Who knows? Maybe they'll add ANOTHER #7 subway stop south of the real-soon-now 34th street station...

j-biz · #**219** Posted **Sep 10, 2013, 9:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkristof

Speaking from a suburban Long Island-centric view I think it will be bigger than the current rebuilt WTC due to it's NY Penn station/associated transportation infrastructure proximity.

Who knows? Maybe they'll add ANOTHER #7 subway stop south of the real-soon-now 34th street station...

After the ARC tunnel was cancelled, the Bloomberg administration proposed a 7 train extension all the way to Secaucus. Don't hold your breath. The tunnel does go all the way to 25th, though...

http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_in...n-to-secaucus/

vkristof · #**220** Posted **Sep 11, 2013, 2:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-biz

After the ARC tunnel was cancelled, the Bloomberg administration proposed a 7 train extension all the way to Secaucus. Don't hold your breath. The tunnel does go all the way to 25th, though...

http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_in...n-to-secaucus/

Yes, the tail tracks do extend down to 25th st. That's really what I was commenting on, due to the RE boom in Chelsea/along the High Line.

As that map shows there is no subway in that area. The map does illustrate that the Coach Tower (NW corner of 30th & 10th Ave) is relatively close to the new #7 station and all the rail connections at Penn Station.

Walking between the Coach Tower and the #7 station should be "interesting" for a few years: I assume the Coach Tower will be occupied for at least a couple of years before the new Hudson Blvd is opened on the yet-to-be built ERY platform.

I wonder when the NYC garbage trucks that park on the 11th Ave viaduct will move to their new location?