Terrifying footage of New York’s East River flowing into Queens-Midtown Tunnel reveals glaring problem

A leak that sent torrents of water from the East River pouring into one of New York City’s busiest tunnels began after a contractor accidentally drilled into it.

Workers from Warren George, a New Jersey-based drilling company, drilled into the exterior cladding of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel in early September.

The crew had been positioned on a barge on the East River as part of its soil sampling work in preparation for the planned construction of a riverside esplanade.

As they tried to request soil samples to determine conditions beneath the surface for engineers, they drilled through 50 feet of water, then another 50 feet of soil.

Ignoring the tunnel below, they managed to breach the tunnel’s cast iron lining, causing water to gush out.

Traffic began to slow down in the tunnel as vehicles passed through the now waterlogged 2.0 km tunnel.

After finding that the water was coming from the river, Catherine T. Sheridan, chairwoman of the MTA, ordered the immediate closure of both sides.

Footage captured from the interior shows jets of water gushing from the ceiling and onto vehicles passing below.

Workers at the Big Apple’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which owns it, noticed the downpour and it initially seemed like a routine fix.

An initial report said officials initially thought the water was coming from a broken water main on the Queens side of the tunnel.

A worker decided to taste the water with his tongue and discovered it was salty, indicating it came from the river upstream and not fresh water from the system.

Traffic began to slow down in the tunnel as vehicles passed through the now waterlogged 2.0 km tunnel.

After finding that the water was coming from the river, Catherine T. Sheridan, chairwoman of the MTA, ordered the immediate closure of both sides.

Sixteen workers from a local construction company were then brought in, five of whom pushed a wooden plug into the hole to stop the overflow.

A more permanent solution has since been implemented, with engineers designing a steel plate to cover it.

An initial report said officials initially thought the water was coming from a broken water main on the Queens side of the tunnel.

Barge workers then pumped the grout into the hole through a steel tube, which formed a permanent seal when hardened.

Marouane Temimi an associate professor of engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology said he was worried about New York’s underwater tunnels.

He told the New York Times: “As a driver, I always worry. A mighty river is above my head and what I’m crossing is just an artificial structure. It might fail.

Temimi added that human-made errors, like the hole in the tunnel, are almost impossible to predict.

He added: “We were lucky this time. The hole could have been bigger and the damage could have been more significant.

According to the media outlet, the MTA does not have an estimate of the cost of the incident.