If you’ve been along Park Avenue and seen the work the Park Avenue Viaduct team and contractor has been doing to replace the viaduct while it remains in operation, it’s clear that the MTA is putting incredible resources into this replacement. The main reason for the urgency of the work is simply that the steel used 130 years ago to build the viaduct, is old and no longer has the strength to withstand the hundreds of trains that use the viaduct every day.

If you’ve looked closely at the structure, you may have even seen some of the points of concern like the two in the photo below:

The MTA has been using a variety of high-tech scanning tools to look through the paint, to the steel structure and pinpoint any issues for year now. Once identified, teams are set out to patch, weld, brace, or otherwise support the tracks until the new concrete structure can replace it.

Note the issues highlighted by the team that has been scanning the steel:

And the highlighted area just north of this, has details on the dates observed and issues found (crack):

And, while bracing brackets were put in place 2 years ago to “catch” all the vulnerable beams should they fail (note the darker brown paint of the brackets):

Still, I think many people will sleep better when the whole viaduct is replaced with its new concrete iteration.

Where’s the Line?

If you ever want to know the boundary of something in New York City, check out the NYC Boundaries map:

You can see the lines that define:

• 💬 Community Districts

• 🚔 Police Precincts

• 🗑 Sanitation Districts

• 🔥 Fire Battalions

• 🎓 School Districts

• 🩺 Health Center Districts

• 🗽 City Council Districts

• 🍎 City Council Districts (Upcoming 2024)

• 🇺🇸 Congressional Districts

• 🧑‍⚖️ State Assembly Districts

• ⚖️ State Senate Districts

• 🏘 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas

• 🗝 Historic Districts

• 💸 Business Improvement Districts

• 🏭 Industrial Business Zones

• 📫 Zipcodes

And their inevitable overlaps.