Sep 19, 2008 12:49 pm US/Eastern
MTA Offers Anti-Flood System For Vulnerable Metro
Transportation Authority Presents Solution To Keep City's Subway System Dry During Heavy Rains With Use Of Ventilation Grates
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Transit officials believe they have a working solution that finally puts form in line with function: a sloping, stainless steel ventilation grate designed to protect the subway system below during a bad storm. (File)
CBS
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is taking steps to keep New York City's subway system dry during heavy rain showers.
The action comes more than a year after large-scale flooding severely disrupted transit service during the morning rush.
On Queens' Hillside Avenue, when it rains, it pours.
It's a problem that has plagued the city's transit system for decades. But transit officials believe they have a working solution that finally puts form in line with function: a sloping, stainless steel ventilation grate designed to protect the subway system below during a bad storm.
"By raising the vent grading high enough above the water level, essentially we're preventing water from coming into the subway system. However we're still allowing the subway ventilation to work," said John O'Grady of the MTA.
"I have a strong interest in design, but I've gotta tell ya, I never expected that we'd be able to use design to deal with one of the critical infrastructure challenges facing the city and region," said MTA CEO Elliot Sander.
City transit intends to install almost 800 of the new contoured grates in Queens alone.
The new grates are part of a system wide effort to increase weather related preparedness and response capabilities. All operation centers now have Doppler Radar Systems, and each manager has a blackberry to stay informed of the latest developments.
For a Queens resident, these measures, and particularly the new grates...are welcomed improvements. But he worries about them attracting too much attention:
"If the folks don't destroy it, it will be effective," said Sam Clarke.
Transit officials say they will soon begin installing these fashionable streets in Manhattan.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments