Archive | Featured News

20 May 2015 ~ 0 Comments

Media Tours Central Subway Tunnels

San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee congratulates Central Subway Project Director John Funghi on completion of Tunnel Contract 1252.  This contract consists of the 1.7 mile long twin tunnels connecting South of Market through Union Square and Chinatown.   Also included in the contract (pictured here) is the tunnel portal located on 4th Street between Harrison […]

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12 February 2015 ~ 3 Comments

Tunnel Boring Machines’ Disassembly

Our recent time-lapse video highlights the break-through and removal of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) at the retrieval shaft and gives a closer look at how work advanced at that site. The video shows TBM Mom Chung breaking into the water-filled retrieval shaft last June. The water is drained from the shaft for the arrival […]

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04 December 2014 ~ 0 Comments

Check-Out Winter Walk SF

On Dec. 3, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, the Union Square Business Improvement District, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Central Subway officially kicked-off “Winter Walk SF” in Union Square – an open plaza for the public to enjoy. This festive, pedestrian-friendly holiday hub runs through January 1 on Stockton Street between Ellis […]

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28 January 2014 ~ 0 Comments

Second Central Subway TBM to pass under Market Street, BART this week

Tunnel boring machine Big Alma, shown here, will cross under BART and Market Street this week. This week the Central Subway’s second tunnel boring machine (TBM) will pass beneath Market Street and the existing Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni Metro tunnels, crossing from SoMa and into Union Square. The tunnel, one of two being […]

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04 December 2013 ~ 6 Comments

Time-lapse video: The first months of tunneling with TBM Mom Chung

Using time-lapse cameras installed underground, we’ve condensed the first months of tunneling into this captivating two-minute video. In the video, Central Subway crews assemble tunnel boring machine (TBM) Mom Chung and drive the state-of-the-art tunnel builder north under 4th Street to build San Francisco’s first new subway line in decades. The video shows the TBM […]

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25 November 2013 ~ 0 Comments

TBM Big Alma Launches, Commencing Construction of Second Central Subway Tunnel

Tunnel boring machine Big Alma, shown here on the right, began tunneling under 4th Street. On the left is the entrance to the parallel tunnel being built by TBM Mom Chung. There are now two 350-foot-long, 750-ton tunnel boring machines mining under 4th Street to construct the Central Subway’s pair of parallel tunnels. Our second […]

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21 November 2013 ~ 0 Comments

First Central Subway tunnel boring machine to pass under existing BART, Muni Metro tunnels next week

In the operating cabin of TBM Mom Chung, two TBM operators monitor tunneling conditions provided from a variety of state-of-the-art instruments. Next week our first tunnel boring machine, Mom Chung, will pass beneath Market Street and the existing BART and Muni Metro tunnels, crossing from SoMa and into Union Square. The tunnel, one of two […]

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02 October 2013 ~ 0 Comments

Now starting: Construction of Central Subway stations, tracks and operating systems

This building in Chinatown will be demolished soon to make way for the Central Subway Chinatown Station. Last month, we started the first construction activities to build the Central Subway’s stations, tracks and operating systems. This work will extend the Muni Metro T Third Line underground to improve public transit in some of San Francisco’s […]

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30 September 2013 ~ 1 Comment

Beneath the Pagoda Palace, foundations of San Francisco’s history

Father John Takahashi and Central Subway Program Director John Funghi stand beside concrete blocks that once formed the foundation of a historic North Beach church. Earlier this month, construction crews demolishing the Pagoda Palace unearthed a long-lost piece of San Francisco history: the foundations of a church that stood on these grounds more than a […]

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01 August 2013 ~ 1 Comment

Tunneling crews assemble Big Alma, the Central Subway’s second TBM

Late in the night last month, crews installed the cutter head of tunnel boring machine (TBM) Big Alma. The massive machine’s cylindrical shield was already in place below. Big Alma has arrived. The massive tunneling machine — the identical twin of recently launched Mom Chung — is now under assembly underground. Last month, tunneling crews […]

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