Content area
Full Text
New York Harbor Siphon project NYC EDC/NYC DEP - The replacement of the existing water siphons between Brooklyn and Staten Island
The Port of New York and New Jersey is one of the most heavily used transportation arteries in the world, handling nearly 40 percent of the North Atlantic shipping trade and directly providing nearly 230,000 jobs to the local economy. In 2004. $100 billion worth of consumer goods moved through the port.
To accommodate future cargo volumes in the port, which are expected to double over the next decade and possibly quadruple in 40 years, deeper shipping channels are needed to provide access for a new generation of cargo mega-ships with drafts exceeding 13.7-m (45-ft) when loaded. Current channels within the harbor range in depths up to 13.7-m (45-ft). thus preventing carriers from using these larger ships, or requiring significant reductions in cargo to achieve lesser drafts to operate safely within the harbor.
As part of the Harbor Deepening Project, the Anchorage Channel would be deepened to 15.2 m (50 ft) below mean low water (MLW). for a length of 5,790 m (19.000 ft). Tlie New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) owns, operates and maintains two existing water siphons in the harbor. Due to their shallow depth, both existing siphons must be relocated before dredging of the Anchorage Channel can be completed. Tom Costanzo, manager of capital programs for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). says that "While the relocation of the existing siphons under the Anchorage Channel is vital to the success of the deepening program, it is also a story of cooperation among key agencies at different levels of government resulting in improvements that will benefit the people of this region greatly."
To replace the existing siphons, a new 2,877-m (9.440linear-ft). 1 .8-m (72-in.) diameter pipeline will be installed within a3.7-m (12-ft) diameter tunnel. The location plan of the existing and proposed siphons is shown in Fig. L The NYCDEP has previously crossed this reach of the harbor to the north with the construction of the Richmond Tunnel in the 1960s, although at a depth of approximately 274-m (900ft). Thai tunnel was excavated through rock. "Replacing the existing water siphons between Brooklyn and Staten Island...