In New York City, Steel Wall Being Built to Protect Subway Line from Future Storms

Two miles of subway track that got hammered by Hurricane Sandy will be protected by a wall of steel, built between the tracks and Jamaica Bay.
In New York City, Steel Wall Being Built to Protect Subway Line from Future Storms
Zachary Stieber
4/1/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

 NEW YORK—Two miles of subway track that got hammered by Hurricane Sandy will be protected by a wall of steel, built between the tracks and Jamaica Bay.

A portion of the A train, crossing the bay onto the Rockaway peninsula, was washed out by the hurricane, and has been out of service ever since.

Now, as a major part of restoring the section, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is constructing a steel sheet wall along the track. The 40 foot sheets are buried 33 feet down, leaving seven feet to protect the tracks from storm surges, and debris. That’s two feet above how high storm surges during the hurricane rose.

The steel is marine steel, “which will stop it from eroding over the course of 100 years,” according to Match Levine, a contractor cited by WNYC.

Recommended: A Snapshot of the NYC Rockaways 3 Months After Sandy [Photos]

MTA engineers chose a wall because it enables the authority to start running trains on the track by summer, according to Kevin Ortiz, a MTA spokesperson. The projected cost is $38 million.