Replacement of tower elevators and diverse rehabilitation, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Bridge
Brooklyn, New York
Road/bridge
Region: Hell New York
Sent by: Kiewit Infraestructure Co.
Owner: MTA Capital Construction and Development Co.
Lead design company: Kiewit Engineering (NY) Corp.
General contractor: Kiewit Infraestructure Co.
Structural Engineer and MEP: WJE Engineers & Architects PC
Architect: Sowinski Sullivan Architects
MPT designer: Matrix New World Engineering
The high winds and a tight schedule replaced two tower lift systems and updates to locks, doors, counterweights and mechanical components in the almost 90-year-old sailor, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge No Feas Fear. But with innovative ideas, collaboration and a similar approach to surgeons who carry out an operation, the design design team completed a 540 -foot vertical lifting bridge rehabilitation that is expected to be more secure and less necessary for the coming years.
The bridge connects the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York, in the Belt Parkway and Marine Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. Commenting on the relatively small value of dollar of the project of about $ 18 million, the implications were important for maintenance crews, sailors and beach venues. After starting work by the end of 2022, the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) ordered the project to end, with functional locks, the Day 2024 Memorial, when the busy summer season begins. The bridge is also a critical link between the Rockaway and Brooklyn peninsula, and serves as an evacuation link in the New York city area in the event of events like Superstorm Sandy.
While the elevators of the North and South Bridge settled in 2005, “we constantly experienced operational problems,” says Romolo Desantis, a senior vice president of development of the construction of the MTA bridges and tunnels. “The traveled cable that supported the controls for the cabins would stick, especially during the high winds.” With a hard sea environment and the age of the bridge, “the elevators needed constant maintenance,” he adds.
The maintenance team was especially worried that the lift of the North Tower never operated and the lift of the South Tower only operated after the MTA maintenance contractor solved it. As a result, the staff had to climb up to seven different outdoor stairs (1220 feet on an active road) with heavy tools and materials for maintenance activities.
Kiewit furnished and installed elevators that could withstand harsh conditions and build a fiberglass enclosure system that will expand the lifts’ life life. “We were there looking at the steel members, and many of the pieces were corrected,” says Sean Gayle, responsible for the Kiewit project. The company eliminated and replaced 42 steel components within the existing budget.
Two new elevators and four new implantation locks were replaced in an old mobile elevation bridge with more secure and durable systems that include stainless steel components, fiberglass and a hard plastic called nilaron to maximize resistance to the hard environment.
PDK Commercial Photographers photo Ltd DBA Bernstein Associates
The two axes of the elevator of the two towers had an irregular lean due to decades of corrosion. The team performed Lidar during the design, conducted field surveys and was measured to ensure that the new team would fit the axes with proper correction. The crews used spider baskets to replace steel members and install 150 feet in the air. As for Span’s locks, “we proposed during the application an almost maintenance product,” says Gayle. The new locks consist of galvanized or stainless steel stainless steel screws to prevent future elimination or oxidation paint, and nylatron – a hard plastic – on all surfaces that do not require fat during maintenance.
Span locks are prefabricated outside the site. Instead of cutting a hole through the existing roof to introduce the assembly mechanism, the team turned the locks on the side of the bridge, pulling them up. Replacing the original system, which had used a single engine per tower, are four independent drive locks driven by the actuator. “It allows to improve the distribution of load, more redundancy and reduced maintenance,” says Desantis.
With four new locks, “we had to find two additional spaces” for electricity, says Yang Zheng, associate director of WJE, which requires new electric cabinets and feature boxes. “We surveyed the spare cables and were determined if they were enough for the new system. They were.”
To keep up with the tight calendar, Kiewit added more craftsmen and implemented shifts such as a night change for eight weeks to install the south tower elevator steel during the low winds. The elevator was completed in 107 days, 46 days faster than the north tower. The new locks were completed in 166 days, far ahead of the 180 -day coastal guard interruption.
About 66,000 hours of workers did not produce registered injuries. Designers incorporated costs at no costs to improve security, such as eliminating two intermediate disembarkation and rarely used on the axes, widening counterweight access doors and a handrail on Span’s blocking platforms.
Kiewit also implemented its safety program only craft CVVs, which includes a safety team of the week with crafts and staff; MTA also hosted security walks. For new employees, CVV leaders showed the best way to safely work various tools before a turn began. Each week, an expert housed a toolbox talk focused on a particular security topic.
As a reward for safe work, Kiewit bought lunch from crews to a food truck. “We have selected members to sit with project managers weekly,” says Gayle. “Give the opportunity to the craft of talking -directly on what is happening: most important conversations.”
