About 1,600 New York subway cars are being dumped off the New Jersey shore to serve as artificial reefs. The subway cars will provide homes for schools of fish, and allow divers to inspect a unique part of New York’s history in an underwater museum.
“They create a cave-like structure that let young hatchlings mature,” said Mike Zacchea, a self-described reef dean for New York City Transit who is also an assistant chief of operations. “Within 30 days, marine life attaches to the car body.”
The project costs $6.3 million, and saves the city $27 million more in fees they would pay to properly scrap the cars. Some of the cars have asbestos, so destroying them is costly.
Environmentalists are not convinced that the cars are safe for the underwater life, but the New Jersey environmental department evaluated the cars and said they provide a “durable habitat” and don’t pose any significant danger to the environment.
It’s an interesting way to reuse the subway cars, and to reduce the energy that would have been required to dispose of them in a landfill.
(click on the picture to see other pictures of underwater vehicles)
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That. is. so. cool. !!!
I want an undersea subway car coral reef!!!
I’ve heard of them sinking ships and oil rigs and whatnot to do this, but subway cars are so New York, and I like New York (because I live here). And coral is the big new endangered species, so it’s appropriate for New York to be going for the hip new cutting-edge species (especially since Pandas don’t really like it here – too noisy)
Anyway, nice story and good photo, too. Thanks!
I think it’s pretty cool too, especially since the cars would end up in a landfill or scrap heap doing no good at all. Now they’ll be a unique tourist attraction for people and fish!
The guy who took that picture also had pictures of an old VW bus, a tank, and other ships underwater.
Thanks for visiting terra, not terror from New York!
Very Cool! Wouldn’t it be so cool if someone was able to figure out how humans could get to those subway cars down there, go inside, it would be waterproofed and have a meal. Wow. Ok wake up now.
I would be temped to learn scubadiving if I lived in NY.
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