Following indictment of concrete testing company, Rep. Maloney reports that MTA retesting shows that concrete used for 2nd Ave. Subway is safe

New York, NY – U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) today reported that concrete for the Second Avenue Subway project that was tested by a recently-indicted lab has been retested by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and that independent test results have determined that the concrete meets all safety standards. 

On Thursday, American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories, the company responsible for testing the safety of some of the Second Avenue Subway’s concrete, was indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney for falsifying test results for the subway project and others throughout the city.

At a press conference near the Second Avenue Subway “launch box,” where the concrete in question is located, Maloney presented data from the MTA showing that all concrete used for permanent structures in the subway was independently tested by HAKS, a lab based in New York, and exceeds basic standards.  Copies of the testing results follow.

“Like many New Yorkers, I was incredibly disturbed to learn that the company responsible for testing the safety of some of the concrete used in the construction of the Second Avenue Subway was indicted this week for submitting falsified test results,” Maloney said.

“However, I am pleased to report that the MTA ordered independent testing of all the concrete that was supposedly tested by the indicted firm, and according to the MTA, the concrete passed with flying colors.  In fact, the MTA reports that the concrete exceeds basic safety standards, in many cases, substantially.

“I also want to make clear that the MTA reports that the affected concrete was only used in the so-called “launch box” for the subway project –that’s where the tunnel-boring machines for the subway were dropped into the ground and assembled.  The MTA has also assured me that they have no indications that any concrete used anywhere in the subway is substandard.

“I want to commend the MTA for its diligence in testing and retesting the concrete used in the subway project to ensure the safety of New York straphangers.

“The Second Avenue Subway is an enormously important project, creating more than 16,000 jobs, improving our transportation infrastructure, and promising huge time-savings for harried New Yorkers down the road.  New York City deserves the best.  I will do my part to see that it is delivered,” Maloney added.

Background

In June, the Federal Transit Administration announced that $197 million in funding for the 2nd Avenue Subway will be coming to the MTA this year as part of the Full Funding Grant Agreement governing the project.

In May, Maloney called on Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to preserve the funding originally proposed for the Second Avenue Subway this year, calling the project “vital to the New York City region's $1.26 trillion economy, the second-largest regional economy in the world.”  Click here for more on Maloney’s letter to Rogoff.

In 2009, Maloney issued a report outlining the jobs and other economic benefits created by the construction of the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access transit projects.  Both projects are located almost entirely within Maloney’s congressional district.  Maloney’s report found that the Second Avenue Subway will create more than 16,000 jobs and add $4.347 billion to the region’s economy during construction.  Please click here for a copy of Maloney’s report.

In November 2007, the Federal Transit Administration and the MTA signed a full-funding grant agreement for the Second Avenue Subway, which will provide $1.3 billion in federal funds to build the subway’s first leg.

Full-funding grant agreements are commitments by the federal government to provide a total amount of funding, delivered in installments, over the life of a project.

In the mid-1990s, Rep. Maloney began a campaign to resuscitate the Second Avenue Subway after the project had lain dormant for decades.

The full-length Second Avenue Subway will be an 8 ½ mile, two-track line beginning at 125th street and ending in Hanover Square in lower Manhattan.  The subway’s first segment will include stops at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets, and tunnels from 99th to 62nd Streets. At 63rd Street, the new subway line will link onto the existing Q-line tracks, providing a one-seat ride from the Upper East Side to Times Square, Wall Street, and Brooklyn.  Construction of the full-length subway has been divided into four phases.  Once completed, the first subway phase will carry more than 200,000 riders each day and relieve massive congestion on the most overcrowded subway routes in the nation: the 4, 5, and 6 Lexington Avenue IRT trains on Manhattan's East Side.