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Dive Brief:
- Construction a $1.7 billion resiliency megaproject in New York City will move forward after a project labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council.
- Delivered through a joint venture between New York City-based Turner Construction and SPC Construction, a subsidiary of Broomfield, Colo.-based FlatironDragados, the project will use a progressive design-build model, a first for a New York City project, according to a Battery Park City Authority news release. Work has begun, Turner spokesman Chris McFadden said.
- The agreement establishes wage and safety standards for the Battery Park City Resilience Project and expands access to minority and women-owned businesses and service-disabled veteran businesses.
Diving knowledge:
The move underscores how New York City is increasingly tying major construction projects to PLAs.
More than $7 billion in upcoming construction in New York City will be under new PLAs, according to a Nov. 24 press release from Mayor Eric Adams’ office, including the Battery Park City project. The effort is the third large-scale resilience infrastructure project made by BPCA since Superstorm Sandy, according to a press release from Turner.
“More than $7 billion in project labor agreements is the kind of big, bold commitment New York needs right now,” Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said in the statement. “This agreement means faster projects, safer jobs and fairer wages for the unions that build our city every day.”
According to the release, the PLA is structured to support thousands of union jobs and promotes initiatives such as Helmets to Helmets and Construction Skills.
“That’s why PLAs, like the one signed today, are crucial,” Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said in the statement. “They ensure fair and livable wages, safe work environments, and more accessible paths to the middle class for merchants and offices.”
Turner and SPC, along with Amsterdam-based engineering firm Arcadis, Copenhagen-based design firm Bjarke Ingels Group and New York’s Scape Landscape Architecture, have been planning the project for four years.
The coastal protection system includes integrated flood risk management features, rebuilt breakwaters, improved stormwater management and improved public spaces along the Battery Park waterfront, according to Turner’s release. The new infrastructure will protect the area from 2.5 feet of projected sea level rise, help cool during heat events, and prevent ponding more than 1 foot deep during heavy rains.
Once completed, officials say the project will finally remove Battery Park City from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood zone, meaning homeowners will no longer have to purchase flood insurance in the area.
“The Battery Park City project is a massive undertaking, and this agreement, along with our progressive design construction model, codifies that the work will be completed efficiently and to the highest standards,” Raju Mann, president and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority, said in the statement.
