The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is building an 11,400-ft-long wall along the A Line in Broad Channel, Queens to protect the track right-of-way from washouts should another Sandy-like storm hit the area. The A Line suffered signal, switch, and cable damage when the Oct. 29, 2012 storm hit the region.

Photo by Kevin Ortiz/Courtesy of MTA

Putting Up Obstacles: Crews are drilling steel sheets 33 ft below ground to protect tracks.

J-Track LLC, College Point, N.Y., is building the $15-million wall, which will be located on the Jamaica Bay side of Broad Channel and is scheduled to be completed by May. It will consist of 40-ft-high sheets of steel that will be drilled 33 ft below ground, leaving 7 ft for above-ground protection, says Kevin Ortiz, an MTA spokesman. The wall will not protect infrastructure or the tracks from flood waters, however, he says.

Meanwhile, partial service to the A Line has been restored but there are currently no trains running along Broad Channel, Ortiz says. Full service to is expected to return in June, he adds.