ST. GEORGE — The MTA has replaced the wooden track ties at the St. George stop of the Staten Island Railway with ones made of recycled plastic that should be more resistant to weather conditions.
As part of a project to repair damage to the stop caused by Hurricane Sandy, the agency replaced about 7,500 ties — the slats the tracks are fastened to — with ones made out of a composite of recycled plastic and fiberglass, the MTA said.
"With careful planning and foresight, we took this opportunity to not only make critical Sandy-related repairs but to do it better using environmentally friendly materials," Doug Connett, vice president and chief officer for SIR, said in a statement.
"Switching out thousands of wooden rail ties to composite ties is a boon to the environment and our bottom line."
Unlike the wooden ties which can splinter, rot or fall apart over time, the plastic ones won't absorb moisture or seep chemicals into the ground and will be resistant to insect or fungus infestation, the MTA said.
The new ties are also more flexible and should dampen some noises and vibrations caused by trains riding over the tracks, the agency said.
After a storm surge from Sandy flooded the station and damaged tracks, switches, equipment, cables, facilities and the control tower, the MTA started a rehabilitation project for the station in 2014 to repair the damages.
The $105 million project is more than halfway done and it includes raising signal equipment, platforms for battery and generator enclosures and installing a new third rail, the MTA said.
The MTA expects to finish installing the new plastic ties by June 1 and will look to add them elsewhere if they're successful.
