Sandhogs Under New York

Workers descend 600 below the ground into Water Tunnel #3 (Brent Stirton)

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Starting this September the History Channel will be airing their new series, Sandhogs. The eleven episodes will focus on the people and the projects that maintain New York City's infrastructure, from the past to the present. They say, "For more than 150 years, a legendary band of mostly unknown urban miners has toiled in obscurity far below the streets of New York. They are the builders of water and sewage tunnels, subway systems and bridge footings, and underappreciated elements of the city's infrastructure."

The Sandhogs, as they're called, still use some of the century-old working methods today, and "lose an average of a man a mile" in the dangerous conditions. Today they're working on a number of projects, including:

• Water Tunnel Number 3: The city's third water tunnel, began in 1970, and scheduled to be completed by 2013, is the largest public works construction project in the history of New York City.
  
• Croton Water Filtration Plant: This will connect a water tunnel originally built in 1890 to the plant, filtering some of New York's water supply for the first time.
  
• East Side Access: Will provide LIRR service to Grand Central Terminal for 160,000 customers a day...dramatically shortening travel time for Long Island and eastern Queens commuters traveling to the east side of Manhattan and provide a new commuter rail station in Sunnyside, Queens.
  
• 7 Subway Line Extension: Will extend the IRT Flushing Subway Line, which carries the # 7 service, westward from its current terminus at Times Square and is intended to aid redevelopment of the west side of Midtown Manhattan.