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#27 Bored Bedrock Bellmouth

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Untitled Collection #252906009

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Shot in my favorite tunnel—the 63rd St Tunnel. Spanning from 57th St in Midtown Manhattan to Long Island City, the 63rd St Tunnel is one of the more recently constructed tunnels in the system, though it was nearly 50 years ago at this point (construction commenced in 1969 and was “completed” in 1989, though it wasn’t truly completed until the 2nd Ave Subway opening in 2017). This shot was taken at the provisional cavern/bellmouth for downtown Second Avenue Subway connection. The Second Avenue Subway was planned to go from 125th St to Hanover Sq in lower Manhattan via 2nd Ave, though only Phase I from 63rd to 96th St has been constructed. This bellmouth would connect to the SAS tracks south of 63rd, allowing trains coming from downtown 2nd Ave to continue to the Queens Blvd Line via 63rd St. As this hasn’t been constructed in the some 40 years since this cavern was built, we are left with this amazing bellmouth bored directly through bedrock, dead ending at a bedrock wall. This point is around 160 feet below the street. I classify 63rd as a Second System Gem because it was the later evolution of an IND Second System plan to put an additional under-river tube at 61st St to supplement the Queens Blvd Line (later moved to 76th St, and finally 63rd St for this project). This is one of the few Second System plans that materialized in any form. I love this tunnel because of what makes it one of the most unique tunnels in the system—if not the world. Spanning such a massive length and traveling through such varied terrain, the tunnel was constructed employing a number of different construction methods (including cut-and-cover, deep boring via tunneling shield, mining via drill and blast, and sunken prefabricated tubes), bringing it a unique architectural diversity that isn’t present in any other tunnel I’ve ever seen, as well as being built to support many future plans. Not only does this create a labyrinth of nooks and crannies to explore, but it ended up looking pretty visually appealing. 28. The Transition

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