FIRMS EYE NEW BID IN $3-BILLION JOB

New York City transit agencies are preparing for one of the country's most ambitious rail expansions now that the logjam over a large engineering contract is resolved. The New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority, apparently conceding to pressure from federal transportation officials, split the general engineering contract into two pieces. The first $184-million contract is primarily for design of 2 mi (3 km) of tunnels, a new station and rail yard, 10 tracks, and five new platforms in Grand Central Terminal. The $3-billion East Side Access expansion will extend the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from the borough of Queens to Grand Central on Manhattan's east side. The job will include a 5,500-ft (1,676-m) long tunnel with deep bores, cut-and-cover, and extensive underpinning that would take LIRR tracks into a 70-ft (21-m) wide box tunnel with 24-in (61-cm) diameter caissons directly underneath the 63rd Street subway tunnel now under construction.