2nd Avenue Subway Underground Explosion

The MTA set off a major underground blast in Manhattan recently, as part of the enormous East Side Access project. The MTA says the explosion was the last of its kind in the borough. To celebrate the feat, the agency released a video featuring New York City's finest sandhogs blowing up a giant chunk of island bedrock. 

The East Side Access project, which will reportedly cost $8.3 billion, is the largest construction venture in United States history and will create six miles of new underground tunnels, providing Long Island Rail Road trains access to Grand Central Station for the first time. Much work remains to be done to build the platforms and tracks, and finish what is currently raw, cave-like space. But we now have a fully built shell in which all future work will take place. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.