CNN news 2012-06-04 加文本

cnn news 2012-06-04

AZUZ: New York City is in the process of making that subway system even bigger. It`s adding a new line as part of the city`s first major subway expansion in 50 years. New York transportation officials say once it`s done, the new line will help reduce overcrowding and delays. But that`s doesn`t happen quickly and that doesn`t happen cheaply. Ali Velshi looks at what`s involved.

ALI VELSHI, cnn HOST: Backhoe excavators that can cost $700,000 apiece, manlifts that sell for up to half a million bucks, see that hydraulic drill jumbo? They can go for 800 grand a pop. These are the machines of modern-day civil engineering. New York City has them working full speed ahead on its new Second Avenue subway line.

Subways are expensive. Just to give you a sense of perspective, way back when the first subway in Manhattan was 21 miles, and it cost $35 million. This one, about a mile and a half, for about $4.5 billion. That`s more than a billion dollars a stop.

And that`s just for phase one. We went digging 10 stories below Manhattan to find out what goes into the bottom line on a new subway line.

MICHAEL HORODNLCEANU, PRESIDENT, MTA CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION: It`s a bargain. (Inaudible) a bargain, $800,000 a pop.

VELSHI: The most massive piece of equipment used is the tunnel boring machine. The last time New York built a subway it used the cut-and-cover method, digging from street level. Boring is much more efficient and it disrupts life above ground a lot less.

TOM PEYTON, PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF: The one that did this is 22 foot in diameter, a little over two stories tall. It can go on average about 50 foot a day.

VELSHI: One of these things costs $12 million and requires 20 people to operate it. At 50 feet a day, boring two mile-and-a-half tunnels takes a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But this is a linear project.

VELSHI: Right.

HORODNLCEANU: You must do the tunnels before you do this.

VELSHI: And highly specialized laborers are the ones doing that. Sandhogs or urban miners work alongside operating engineers who drive and maintain the machinery.

PEYTON: On average, we pay a guy about $1,000 a day, and that`s base salary plus benefits.

VELSHI: It`s putting people to work in a tough economy. The Metropolitan Transit Authority expects phase one of the subway -- that`s 31/2 stops and a tunnel and a fourth stop -- to create 130,000 jobs with an economic impact of almost $18 billion over the nine years of construction.

New Yorkers keep asking why this takes so long.

HORODNLCEANU: It is normal.

VELSHI: It is what --

HORODNLCEANU: It is normal. It is what it takes.

VELSHI: All the while, Americans are footing the bill, no matter where they live.

HORODNLCEANU: Second Avenue, right now, $1.3 billion come from the federal government and the rest of $3.15 billion comes from New York.

PEYTON: And in 2016, when we swipe our card and ride their first train, it`s going to feel real good.

AZUZ: All right. It`s time to have a little fun. Several works ago, we asked you to send us iReports of any questions you had for me. We had a great response to this. The full interview is up and ready to watch at cnnstudentnews.com. You`ll find it in the "Spotlight" section. If you want to know who comes up with all the puns, go there. If you want to see a sample of what this is all about, watch here.