INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO STRAY CURRENT MONITORING AT THE SITE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY

摘要

The destruction of the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 resulted in the destruction of vital transportation infrastructure for Lower Manhattan, namely the World Trade Center PATH Station and the twin tunnels from New Jersey serving this station. During the reconstruction of the above infrastructure, it was decided that the most innovative technology would be utilized to monitor and allow the control of transit system stray currents related to the operation of the PATH system. Provisions to control stray current included the electrical isolation of the rails inside the transit tunnels and the bonding of the reinforcing steel mats in the track bed. Stray current drainage from the reinforcing steel to the 100 year-old cast iron tunnel shells and from the tunnel shells to the traction power substations was incorporated into the design, as was the installation of a state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring System to monitor the stray current drainage levels. This paper discusses the design approach and the results achieved from this innovative design.