Harold Interlocking Structures Phase I

Cost: $139 million

Modifications to Harold Interlocking are key components to the East Side Access project, an MTA Capital Construction effort to bring Long Island Rail Road service to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. East Side Access tunnels from Queens to Manhattan will pass under Harold Interlocking, necessitating capacity improvements to accommodate additional tracks.

“Over 750 LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit trains pass through Harold Interlocking each day, the busiest railroad interlocking in North America,” says Alan Paskoff, deputy program executive for the East Side Access project.

Perini Corp. of Peekskill, N.Y., began work on the $139-million Harold Structures Part 1 contract in January 2008. It is the first of four East Side Access civil and structural packages to be let adjacent to and in support of railroad infrastructure.

“Perini is pleased to be working with MTA East Side Access on this challenging project,” says Jim Laing, president of civil construction at Perini.

Paskoff adds that virtually all of the contract’s work is within Harold, “and the biggest challenge we face is working in an active railroad environment while keeping the trains running. The cooperation we receive from both LIRR and Amtrak is an essential ingredient in moving this contract forward.”

Harold Structures Part 1 includes various civil work and expansion of existing right of way to accommodate tunneling activities. The company will construct approximately 13,500 sq ft of concrete post and panel soldier pile retaining wall with concrete piers and 65,000 sq ft of precast concrete modular retaining walls.

Utility corridors, which include microtunneling for various ductbanks and utilities to run under the mainline rail tracks, are part of the project. Microtunneling Jacking Pit #3 was completed near the Amtrak Hi-Speed Maintenance Facilities, and the geotechnical instrumentation for Microtunnel Run #9 has been installed and baseline readings established, says Laurie Cusinato, special assistant for policy and communications for MTA Capital Construction. “In addition, installation of sheeting and the placement of the ‘mudslab’ at the Microtunneling Receiving Pit #3 was completed, and final pit preparations are ongoing.”

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A Herrenknecht AVN 1800 Microtunnel Boring Machine, equipped with rock-cutting discs and heavily reinforced to meet the anticipated rocky soil conditions, is onsite, and crews will soon assemble and field test the two segments of the 60-in.-diameter machine.

Microtunneling operations were expected to begin in May and continue around-the-clock until the 300-ft-long tunnel is completed.

Crews will install 10-ft-long segments of reinforced concrete pipe immediately behind the boring machine to support the excavation and install utilities, including sewer and electric lines after tunneling is complete. A total of 11 60-in. utility tunnels, ranging in length from 45 to 300 ft, are to be constructed under Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road tracks and under the service area in Sunnyside Yard in 2009.

Perini will install catenary and signal tower structures, consisting of steel poles supported by drilled caisson concrete foundations to support electric, communication and signal used by Amtrak, LIRR and NJ Transit trains. These will replace existing catenary and signal structures being removed to make room for the new LIRR tracks.

The contract calls for construction of four bridges, all over live tracks. Three of the bridges will carry LIRR trains over Amtrak’s operating rail line and will be supported on drilled shafts. The team is using Bauer hydraulic drill rigs. The other is the Harold Access Bridge North, a vehicular-access bridge, with a steel structure, concrete abutments supported on drilled shaft foundations, and a concrete deck and parapets. Perini recently completed construction of the abutments.

Perini will design and install a 6,100-sq-ft, prefabricated substation on a cast-in-place concrete foundation. The company also will place the cast-in-place foundations for Harold Interlocking Instrument Location, which will be installed later under a separate contract.

The work includes building the Track A approach structure, a cut-and-cover tunnel section with cast-in-place concrete for tracks that lead into the main tunnels, which will be constructed in a separate, future contract. This approach structure will also serve as the tunnel-boring machine pit.

MTA Capital Construction expects Perini to complete of the first contract in October 2010. It anticipates awarding the second package this year.

Team Box

Owner: MTA Capital Construction, New York
Contractor: Perini Corp., Peekskill, N.Y.