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NYC's Trash-Sucking Tubes May Be Upgraded, Expanded

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-the-mega-maid-sir dept.

derekmead writes "When urban planners were trying to turn New York's Roosevelt Island from a haven for the disabled and the mentally ill into a liveable city, they got utopian. Lying beneath their plans was an unusual technology: a series of tubes that literally suck garbage from buildings at speeds up to 60 miles per hour to a central collection point, where the trash is taken off the island by truck or barge. Theoretically, that eliminates the emissions and traffic caused by giant garbage trucks, and makes trash sorting easier. Now, more than thirty years after the 'AVAC,' or Automated Vacuum Collection System, was installed, Envac, the Swedish company that built it, is exploring how to upgrade it and even extend the system to other parts of the city. Under a new feasibility study conducted by City University and funded by two city agencies, the easiest option would be to stretch the current system south, to cover the new technology campuses being built on Roosevelt Island by Cornell University and the Technion. "

4 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. A series of tubes? by Bodhammer · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean like the internet? I don't think we need more tubes that move garbage...

    --
    "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
  2. Warning by Megahard · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do not put your dick in the trash sucking tube.

    --
    I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
    1. Re:Warning by Megahard · · Score: 5, Funny

      +5 Informative????!? Ok, here's some more tips for lonely slashdotters:
      Do not put your dick in the light socket
      Do not put your dick in the milking machine
      Do not put your dick in the salami slicing machine
      Do not put your dick in the toaster
      Do not put your dick in anything that's been dead for more than 5 hours

      There must have been countless horrific injuries before we had the internet to dispense this essential information.

      --
      I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
  3. Re:Some things don't smell right-- by instarx · · Score: 5, Informative

    And how is "sorting easier" when it's flying into a "central collection point" (read: steadily growing pile) at 60 mph?

    I lived on Roosevelt Island for many years. The trash is sorted in the building by residents (as in all NYC apartment buildings). Recyclables are run through the vacuum system at one time of day, and garbage during another time of day. It does help with the sorting at the collection station.