{"id":225,"date":"2012-11-20T19:54:40","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T19:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theflatironblog.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2017-05-11T10:58:31","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T16:58:31","slug":"superstorm-sandy-tests-northeast-mettle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/news\/superstorm-sandy-tests-northeast-mettle\/","title":{"rendered":"Superstorm Sandy Tests Northeast Mettle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

As Superstorm Sandy grew, so did the warnings that this hurricane could be historic. Once it slammed into the East Coast on Oct. 29, nobody doubted that it would be. Unprecedented surges of seawater inundated New York City\u2019s tunnels, subways and electrical systems.<\/p>\n

E.E. Cruz<\/a> crews began preparing for Hurricane Sandy on the Friday prior to it making landfall. On the Second Avenue Subway project, an E.E. Cruz\/Tully joint venture, preparations included removing all trash and debris from lay-down and work areas between 102nd Street and 91st Street. Sandbags were placed and booms were lowered on three cranes and three large drills. Crews nailed down saw horses and lumber and cut slits into fencing screens to allow for air passage. A significant portion of preparations involved removing two Gradalls and three excavators out of the cut-and-cover tunnel. Extra pumps and gas cans were procured as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent approximately 320 man-hours on pre-storm activities and an additional 700 man-hours on post-storm activities,\u201d said project manager Richard France.<\/p>\n

A comprehensive hurricane preparedness plan was followed, along with some additional preparation that went above and beyond to help minimize damage. Supervisors Joe Flanagan and Fred Fazio essentially stayed overnight at the job site during the worst of the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had substantial flooding, but with the additional pumps we were able to minimize the downtime,\u201d said Richard.<\/p>\n

After the storm, several traffic lights were down or facing the wrong direction, and local businesses\u2019 awnings were blown into the work zone. Fencing blew over despite added ballasts. Window washing scaffolding from another contractor not associated with the Second Avenue Subway project landed in the work area causing minor damage to another section of fencing\u2014an event prompting one lesson learned for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot be too prepared,\u201d said Richard. \u201cNext time I will look harder at other potential flying hazards, such as the window washing scaffolding, awnings, and not just our own stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project continued to be impacted in a major way even after the storm had dissipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t able to get deliveries from areas in southern New Jersey,\u201d explained Richard. \u201cNot being able to get gas or fuel was a major headache. Permits for trucking weren\u2019t being issued by the Department of Transportation, and most concrete plants weren\u2019t operating because of flooding or lack of power.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost everyone was without power,\u201d continued Richard. \u201cOur house has a generator, so we set up \u2018Camp France\u2019 and took in a few neighbors. So did several other people that I spoke with. New Yorkers always take care of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandy\u2019s historic appearance didn\u2019t keep crews down for long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was trying to get into Manhattan on Tuesday morning, police had barricaded the bridges and tunnels, allowing access to only the fire department, ambulances and police,\u201d Richard said. \u201cI explained, at length, that I should be allowed into the city because I was meeting construction crews to start the Second Avenue cleanup, and ensure that the tunnel wasn\u2019t flooded. The police officer flat out refused to let me cross the bridge. After some exasperation, I said \u2018fine, make my day, and send me home. I don\u2019t want to go to work anyway in this mess,\u2019 to which he replied, \u2018alright, go ahead.\u2019 I guess that\u2019s called \u2018reverse psychology.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Richard said that out of 100-plus people on the job, a small skeleton crew showed up Tuesday morning, primarily due to those barricaded bridges and dealing with damage to their or their family\u2019s houses. On Wednesday, however, just three days after this record-setting storm, the Second Avenue Subway project had nearly a full workforce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Superstorm Sandy grew, so did the warnings that this hurricane could be historic. Once it slammed into the East Coast on Oct. 29, nobody doubted that it would be.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[150,222,385,414],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safety-and-environment","tag-e-e-cruz","tag-hurricane-sandy","tag-second-avenue-subway-project","tag-superstorm-sandy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}