| 9/11 was an event that touched each of us in some way. For B-U Corp it provided the company an opportunity to take part in the massive recovery effort in a very special way. Part of the destruction suffered on that day was the loss of the Ports Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) Railway system between the World Trade Center terminus and Exchange Place Station in Jersey City. | |
|
Firefighting water and broken water lines rapidly flooded this vital transportation link between New York and New Jersey. |
| Initial action at the Exchange Place Station was to plug the two transit tunnels with concrete to prevent possible flooding of the station should the Slurry wall in the World Trade Center basement complex (the bathtub) fail and allow water from the Hudson River to add its volume to the water already present in the tunnels and possibly flood the entire station complex to street level. | |
|
After the Slurry Wall was stabilized and there was no further danger of flooding, the 16' Concrete plugs were cut out and work was begun stripping the tunnels back to their cast iron walls. |
| Soon after work commenced, it was determined that because of the age of the station complex (completed 1907), the station would have to be modernized. Modernizing would be no small feat as it would entail enlarging the platform area and adding crossovers and safety out. Many of these activities would require blasting and with newly placed restiction on moving explosives and the construction of office buildings over the station, traditional drill and blast methods were not a consideration. B-U Corp was called in to ascertain what alternative methods would permit successful completion of the project. After much consultation, the decision was made to abandon the traditional drill and blast method in favor of the use of Roadheaders to complete the excavation work. At that point B-U Corp was called in to oversee execution of the project. |
|
|
Finally the task of finishing the interior of the station was undertaken. Crews set rockbolts in the ceiling and sides of the station to stablize the layers of rock between the surface and the station coplex. Lattice girders were then affixed to the interior walls and the entire surface was spayed with a coating of shotcrete resulting in an exteremely strong structure |
| As a result of these innovations suggested by B-U Corp., the Exchange Place Station was completed on time. | |
Return to the Transit Tunnels Page