East Side Access Project

Scroll Down

The Challenge

Monitor movement during excavation
Enhance safety monitoring to surrounding structures

The East Side Access (ESA) project in New York City connected the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Main and Port Washington lines in Queens to a new LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Before construction could begin connecting the LIRR Main and PortWashinton lines in Queens to the LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central, the ESA project team needed to determine whether excavation, tunneling, or construction activities had any adverse effects on surrounding structures.

The Solution

Prior to the start of construction activities, geotechnical instruments were installed above ground and in the subway tunnels to measure movement. Instruments included robotic total stations (RTS) with reflective prismatic targets, manual survey points, inclinometers, extensometers, observation wells, tilt meters, seismographs, dynamic strain gages, and liquid level settlement systems. Most of the instruments were designed to be read remotely and automatically.

Geocomp offered a complete geotechnical data management solution, which enabled the ESA project team to determine whether excavation, tunneling, or construction activities had any adverse effects on surrounding structures. Geocomp collected and managed a vast amount of data from more than 13,000 geotechnical instruments and provided a web-based data management system allowing data to be processed, presented, and reported in a timely, accessible, and understandable manner. Using Geocomp’s web-based data management system, iSiteCentral®, all instruments were monitored and continuous review of data collected and processed. Geocomp also collected readings from instruments which needed to be read manually.