September 29, 2004
Subways Remain Vulnerable to Flooding
By MICHAEL LUO The New York Times
Transit workers fanned out to spots throughout the city yesterday, girding for rain. Their mission was simple: to stave off another paralysis of the city's subway system like what occurred on Sept. 8 during the morning rush and again on Sept. 18, because of flooding.
On Monday, four teams of workers, one for each borough the subway runs through, checked pumps, cleared debris from drains and laid plywood planks to cover up street grates at various places. Yesterday, they stationed themselves at strategic locations in each borough with portable pumps and other equipment, ready to swing into action.
The heaviest downpours skirted the region for much of the day. But as the rains picked up in the afternoon, the No. 6 train on the Upper East Side briefly had to run express from 125th Street to Grand Central Terminal because of flooding. Other problems were in Queens, where the R and V lines ran express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Avenue, and the southbound F train ran express from 179th Street to Kew Gardens during the evening rush, as the rainfall intensified.
"So far it's gone well," Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for New York City Transit, said yesterday afternoon. "We may escape, but we still have our plan in place ready to respond as quickly as we can.''
Clearly, though, the system is vulnerable. On Sept. 8, a mere three inches of water managed to shut down large swaths of the subway. On Sept. 18, it took just two inches. Fortunately, the deluge came on a Saturday that time, so it caused fewer headaches. The reasons that a pair of rainstorms could so easily stagger the city's subways, however, are only now coming into focus.
During the first storm, the teams that were dispatched throughout the city yesterday were not in place, and that is one reason the problems quickly escalated. The transit agency's weather forecasting services failed to predict the deluge. And as workers struggled belatedly to get to flooded areas throughout the system, many wound up stuck in traffic on flooded roadways aboveground.
Still, even though these workers are put in place whenever officials expect heavy rains, there is only so much they can do. On Sept. 18, for example, the advance teams were deployed, but parts of the system still flooded, although the transit agency's response time in getting the system running was quicker.
The question of blame is complicated. Thirteen million gallons of water are pumped out of the system daily by 309 pump plants, equipped with a total of 748 pumps. As much as three times that amount came pouring in on the days the system flooded. But contrary to popular belief, said Joseph J. Joyce, general superintendent of New York City Transit's hydraulics division, none of the pumps failed during either storm, nor were any of them overwhelmed.
Transit officials initially pointed the finger at the city's storm drain system, saying that it was extended beyond capacity. As a result, they said, there was nowhere for them to pump the water. In reality, that was the case in only some flooded areas. Most notably, during the Sept. 8 storm, the drains' limitations contributed to flooding on the Upper West Side, with the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 9 trains being out for much of the morning, as well on the east side, with the Lexington Avenue lines.
Instead of pump rooms in those places, there are direct connections to the city's storm drains. But because the drain lines were filled, there was nowhere for the water in the subways to go.
Explaining the series of crises that unfolded elsewhere, however, Mr. Joyce offered the analogy of a sink. When the water is turned on full force, it takes time for the sink to drain. Similarly, with so much water coming down so quickly on Sept. 8 and Sept. 18, it simply backed up at the drains on the track bed, he said. The water first has to make its way through the drain before winding up in a sump room, where it can be pumped out.
Sometimes, the problem is that debris is blocking the drain on the track bed. One solution is to place slatted boxes over the drains, so that they will not become blocked as easily. New York City Transit has equipped almost 50 drains out of several hundred this way.
In addition, about 93 percent of the city's pump plants are considered in a "state of good repair," or up to modern standards. With the upgrade to that status comes installation of more inlet pipes for the water drainage system. Old pump rooms have only one 6-inch inlet pipe, while all new ones have two 12-inch inlet pipes and two 6-inch overflow pipes, quadrupling the capacity.
Almost all of the problem areas for subway officials during both storms came in places where the pump rooms had only the older inlet pipes.
A major headache for subway officials on Sept. 8 was flooding near a pump room at 44th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, just south of Rockefeller Center, a nexus of several lines. Without advance teams out to clear them, the drains there became blocked by debris, forcing workers to go through the laborious process of clearing them underwater. But the drainage system there also has only the smaller inlet pipes.
Another problem area during both storms was near the Lawrence Street subway station in downtown Brooklyn. That area has only six-inch inlet pipes as well. Workers are also rehabilitating the tracks in that location, so after the deluge was over and the water pumped out, workers had to spend more time making sure that conditions were safe enough for trains to run through there.
Finally, during the storm on Sept. 18, an area just north of the West Fourth Street station in Greenwich Village flooded. Again, the inlet pipes there were old and smaller in diameter, and the drains became blocked. Although advance teams were out, clearing debris, only certain areas, those that invariably flood during storms, are typically scouted. That spot was not on the transit agency's list. It has since been added.
In what could become part of the solution, as part of its next five-year capital program, New York City Transit is hoping to secure $126 million to upgrade the pump rooms that have not yet been modernized. Whether that will solve the problem, however, has yet to be seen.
Subways Remain Vulnerable to Flooding
By MICHAEL LUO The New York Times
Transit workers fanned out to spots throughout the city yesterday, girding for rain. Their mission was simple: to stave off another paralysis of the city's subway system like what occurred on Sept. 8 during the morning rush and again on Sept. 18, because of flooding.
On Monday, four teams of workers, one for each borough the subway runs through, checked pumps, cleared debris from drains and laid plywood planks to cover up street grates at various places. Yesterday, they stationed themselves at strategic locations in each borough with portable pumps and other equipment, ready to swing into action.
The heaviest downpours skirted the region for much of the day. But as the rains picked up in the afternoon, the No. 6 train on the Upper East Side briefly had to run express from 125th Street to Grand Central Terminal because of flooding. Other problems were in Queens, where the R and V lines ran express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Avenue, and the southbound F train ran express from 179th Street to Kew Gardens during the evening rush, as the rainfall intensified.
"So far it's gone well," Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for New York City Transit, said yesterday afternoon. "We may escape, but we still have our plan in place ready to respond as quickly as we can.''
Clearly, though, the system is vulnerable. On Sept. 8, a mere three inches of water managed to shut down large swaths of the subway. On Sept. 18, it took just two inches. Fortunately, the deluge came on a Saturday that time, so it caused fewer headaches. The reasons that a pair of rainstorms could so easily stagger the city's subways, however, are only now coming into focus.
During the first storm, the teams that were dispatched throughout the city yesterday were not in place, and that is one reason the problems quickly escalated. The transit agency's weather forecasting services failed to predict the deluge. And as workers struggled belatedly to get to flooded areas throughout the system, many wound up stuck in traffic on flooded roadways aboveground.
Still, even though these workers are put in place whenever officials expect heavy rains, there is only so much they can do. On Sept. 18, for example, the advance teams were deployed, but parts of the system still flooded, although the transit agency's response time in getting the system running was quicker.
The question of blame is complicated. Thirteen million gallons of water are pumped out of the system daily by 309 pump plants, equipped with a total of 748 pumps. As much as three times that amount came pouring in on the days the system flooded. But contrary to popular belief, said Joseph J. Joyce, general superintendent of New York City Transit's hydraulics division, none of the pumps failed during either storm, nor were any of them overwhelmed.
Transit officials initially pointed the finger at the city's storm drain system, saying that it was extended beyond capacity. As a result, they said, there was nowhere for them to pump the water. In reality, that was the case in only some flooded areas. Most notably, during the Sept. 8 storm, the drains' limitations contributed to flooding on the Upper West Side, with the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 9 trains being out for much of the morning, as well on the east side, with the Lexington Avenue lines.
Instead of pump rooms in those places, there are direct connections to the city's storm drains. But because the drain lines were filled, there was nowhere for the water in the subways to go.
Explaining the series of crises that unfolded elsewhere, however, Mr. Joyce offered the analogy of a sink. When the water is turned on full force, it takes time for the sink to drain. Similarly, with so much water coming down so quickly on Sept. 8 and Sept. 18, it simply backed up at the drains on the track bed, he said. The water first has to make its way through the drain before winding up in a sump room, where it can be pumped out.
Sometimes, the problem is that debris is blocking the drain on the track bed. One solution is to place slatted boxes over the drains, so that they will not become blocked as easily. New York City Transit has equipped almost 50 drains out of several hundred this way.
In addition, about 93 percent of the city's pump plants are considered in a "state of good repair," or up to modern standards. With the upgrade to that status comes installation of more inlet pipes for the water drainage system. Old pump rooms have only one 6-inch inlet pipe, while all new ones have two 12-inch inlet pipes and two 6-inch overflow pipes, quadrupling the capacity.
Almost all of the problem areas for subway officials during both storms came in places where the pump rooms had only the older inlet pipes.
A major headache for subway officials on Sept. 8 was flooding near a pump room at 44th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, just south of Rockefeller Center, a nexus of several lines. Without advance teams out to clear them, the drains there became blocked by debris, forcing workers to go through the laborious process of clearing them underwater. But the drainage system there also has only the smaller inlet pipes.
Another problem area during both storms was near the Lawrence Street subway station in downtown Brooklyn. That area has only six-inch inlet pipes as well. Workers are also rehabilitating the tracks in that location, so after the deluge was over and the water pumped out, workers had to spend more time making sure that conditions were safe enough for trains to run through there.
Finally, during the storm on Sept. 18, an area just north of the West Fourth Street station in Greenwich Village flooded. Again, the inlet pipes there were old and smaller in diameter, and the drains became blocked. Although advance teams were out, clearing debris, only certain areas, those that invariably flood during storms, are typically scouted. That spot was not on the transit agency's list. It has since been added.
In what could become part of the solution, as part of its next five-year capital program, New York City Transit is hoping to secure $126 million to upgrade the pump rooms that have not yet been modernized. Whether that will solve the problem, however, has yet to be seen.
