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WABC wins the prize

for driest dog-bites-man lede of the day: "There are reports Tuesday of some pretty substantial delays on the Second Avenue subway project." Can you imagine?! The MTA is blaming this delay on a faulty conveyor belt, which has prevented workers from drilling more than two blocks south from 92nd Street since they started in May. Because of the malfunctions, our beloved Tunnel Boring Machine [TBM] ls drilling at less than half the rate expected, just 14 feet a day. And sometimes it goes rogue and tries to drill up through the street!

The 400-foot TBM has had other issues besides the conveyor belt. The driveshaft broke, and there have been problems with electronic components and the TBM's hydraulics systems. Critics worry this bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade, but Michael Horodniceanu, president of the MTA Captital Construction Co., tells the Daily News the problems are not uncommon in the first month or so after activating a TBM. The most recent delayed completion estimate predicts the project will be done by February 2018.