Rolling trains underfoot. Around-the-clock operations. Caissons needled in between tracks. Hundreds of work-arounds to avoid tunnels and buried utilities. Track-outage hopscotch. Two-hour work windows. Sudden schedule changes. Constant scrutiny. Deadline pressure.
The 11.2-million-sq-ft first phase of Manhattan's 17.4-million-sq-ft Hudson Yards—a 28-acre minicity on a platform over the active 26-acre yard of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR)—has everyone on tenterhooks.