An Enormous Hole in the Ground

The view from BaseNyc

The lot to the north of our New York studio is being used to construct a water tunnel shaft for the city’s Water Tunnel No. 3 project. An underground aqueduct scheduled to stretch more than 60 miles by its completion in 2020, the tunnel will provide a third conduit for city water from sources upstate. Expected to cost upwards of $ 6 billion, it is the largest public works project in the city’s history.

Plans for the project began in 1966, and construction started in 1970. A third water tunnel will enable maintenance on the other two, completed in 1917 and 1936. The shaft outside our studio at Lafayette and Grand Streets will run more than 500 feet deep to connect the new water source with the existing water supply system.

Watch the 60 Minutes segment on the tunnel.