Tunnel boring machine completes excavation of tunnel connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island
A tunnel boring machine has completed the excavation of a new, $250 million water tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island. The new, deeper tunnel — called a siphon — will convey drinking water under New York Harbor from Brooklyn to Staten Island.
Once the new tunnel is activated, two existing, nearly century-old water mains that are located at a much shallower depth will be removed and the work to dredge and deepen the Anchorage Channel can be completed.
The harbor deepening initiative is critical to accommodating the new generation of larger, more environmentally friendly cargo vessels in New York Harbor and retaining the nearly 300,000 jobs and $12 billion in annual wages the Port of New York and New Jersey provides to the region.