Water flooded the Queens-Midtown tunnel shortly after noon Wednesday after a drilling crew punched a 2.5-inch wide hole through the top of the tunnel, shutting down both tubes for hours and snarling traffic across NYC.
Contractors performing exploratory drilling for the city’s Economic Development Corporation’s East Side greenway project accidentally drilled into the tunnel, causing water to run through overhead vents onto the roadway.
The shutdown caused major gridlock Wednesday afternoon, as motorists sought alternate routes. Traffic maps showed heavy traffic on the FDR Drive, the BQE, the LIE and the Grand Central Parkway throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
The north tube reopened shortly after 3 p.m., according to the MTA. The south tube reopened to traffic around 5:30 p.m.
“A subcontractor to EDC’s design consultant doing preliminary investigation work on the East River Esplanade drilled a small perforation in the outer casing of the Queens Midtown Tunnel,” EDC spokeswoman Adrien Lesser said in a statement.
“Engineers are on site to evaluate any damage and begin on repairs, and the northbound tunnel has been temporarily converted to handle two-way traffic while the southbound tunnel is closed,” she added.
Mayor Adams, speaking at a press conference outside the tunnel Wednesday, characterized the issue as a “small leak.”
A spokesperson for the MTA, which operates the tunnel, said there were no injuries.
MTA’s head of Bridges and Tunnels, Cathy Sheridan, said the agency closed both tubes of the tunnel upon discovery of the leak “out of an abundance of caution.” The errant drilling punched a two-and-a-half inch hole through the tunnel’s cast iron lining above the exhaust ducts, Sheridan said.
“When someone drills through all of those layers, it’s going to cause a leak,” she said.
“As I understand it they drilled 100 feet from the surface of the water — 50 feet through water and 50 feet through soil, then the tunnel” Sheridan added.
She said it was unclear how much water entered the tunnel.
The bridge and tunnel boss said interim repairs were ongoing, and crews had managed to place a temporary plug in the hole.
The development corporation’s chief infrastructure officer, Josh Kraus, identified the subcontractor as Warren George Drilling Specialists.
“We are continuing to investigate exactly how and why this occurred,” Kraus told reporters. “We are investigating every aspect, every element of how we got here.”
A man who answered the phone at the Jersey City based drilling firm said he was “not at liberty” to discuss the incident.
EDC officials said Warren George had been hired by infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, which has been tasked with design work for the East Side greenway’s expansion.
“They were doing investigative drilling to determine geo-technical conditions beneath the river,” Kraus said, describing it as an important part of the early design process.
Warren George has faced accusations of messing up city property. In January 2017, then-Mayor de Blasio’s administration filed a claim against the firm for “causing damage to a 12” diameter water main” owned by the city on Roosevelt Island near the Queensborough Bridge.
The de Blasio administration asked for at least $52,097 in damages from Warren George — the cost of repairing the water main — as well as applicable interest and other fees.
The court docket doesn’t make clear how the 2017 case was resolved, though a city law department official said late Wednesday there was no record of damages being paid out. A person who picked up the phone at Warren George’s Jersey City office declined to comment late Wednesday.
Originally Published:
