New York City Water Tunnel No. 3

City Tunnel No. 3 is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the United States.  It was begin in 1970 and is nearing completion.  Completion of the tunnel will allow maintenance work to be done on Tunnels 1 and 2, which have been in continuous operation since their completion early in the 20th century.  The new tunnel begins at Hillview Reservoir in Westchester, then travels south through the Bronx.  Valve chambers allow portions to be shut down and to redirect water flow.  The largest valve chamber is located underneath Van Cortlandt Park.  There are other valve chambers underneath Central Park and Roosevelt Island.  The Tunnel splits in midtown, one leg going east to Queens and then Brooklyn, another south on the West Side of Manhattan.  There are shafts to allow for access every few miles, and each shaft has a distinctive ventilation tower.  Photographs of the shafts can be seen in a previous blog entry.

Shaft 2b, City Tunnel No. 3, Bronx, New York

Shaft 2b, City Tunnel No. 3, Bronx, New York

Shaft 13b, City Tunnel No. 3, New York, New York

City Tunnel Nol 3, Queens, New York

City Tunnel No. 3, Brooklyn, New York

New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 Ventilation Towers

City Tunnel No. 3 has been under construction since 1970 (for more information see my other post about the tunnel).  Each shaft has a ventilation tower.  Originally, the sidewalk entry door for each shaft, (some as deep as 1000 feet), was labelled with the shaft number.  These were removed after 9/11/01.  But they can still located by their distinctive ventilation towers.  The towers are not identical, but have a consistent style.  Once you've seen these you should be able to recognize others.

Shaft 14b, New York

Shaft 19b, Brooklyn

Shaft 16b, Queens

Shaft 23b, Brooklyn

Shaft 11b, New York

Shaft 20b, Brooklyn

Central Arizona Project

The Central Arizona Project is one of the largest aqueduct systems ever built, supplying water from the Colorado River to Central and Southern Arizona.  This recharge field, photographed in November 2014 near Tucson, is used to return some water to the severely depleted water table.  

Jamaica Water Supply, Queens

Beginning in 1897, the Jamaica Water Supply provided drinking water to parts of Queens from a series of wells and water storage tanks.  After the city took over the system it was shut down in 2007, and people in southeastern Queens were connected to the city's main water supply.  Some of the wells were polluted, but in general the water was not the highest quality.  With repairs about to be made on one of the large upstate supply tunnels, NYCDEP plans to reactivate some of the wells. The wells are not secret, but they are difficult to find.  Using various city inventories and databases I was able to locate all of them.  Most are located on residential blocks, fenced in, with a few telltale structures, but completely unmarked.  Others are in the midst of other industrial sites.  These photographs were made in December 2014.