Best of 2005 Awards

Port Imperial-N.Y. Waterway Intermodal Ferry Terminal

Award of Merit: Marine

The Port Imperial-New York Waterway Intermodal Ferry Terminal stood out for the Best of 2005 jury in large part because it is one of those critical infrastructure projects that usually gets overlooked.

"This project had significant impact, because this terminal processes more than 100,000 passengers each day," one judge said.

The $38 million project, slated for completion this month, upgraded a major artery of water transportation across the Hudson River between. The facility links the New Jersey Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and other commuter channels to New York Waterway ferry service in Weehawken, N.J. The transit agency and the ferry service acted as developers.

The project involved the construction of a 40,000-sq.-ft. ferry terminal that serves passengers traveling between New Jersey and Midtown and Lower Manhattan. The terminal has high-end interior finishes, such as a glass storefront, metal panels, wood and metal ceilings, stainless steel railings, granite wainscot, porcelain tile, architectural column enclosures, and aluminum architectural louvers.

advertisement

The facility has a curtain wall and glass exterior. The project team also built mechanical, electrical, fire protection, plumbing, and emergency generator systems.

The marine construction effort entailed dredging and disposal of 110,000 cu. yd. of the riverbed to create a passageway for the ferries. The team later drove 155 piles into the riverbed and installed precast pile caps, beams, and slabs over water. The team also installed two 35-ft. by 90-ft. barges with aluminum gangways, bow loaders, and donut fenders.

The project team also designed and built a temporary trestle for a crane to traverse the building's foundations in order to assemble precast units over the water. At the same time, the team erected perimeter precast pieces on a nearby barge.

"It's not just the building shell," one judge said. "We gave it an award because of the dredging and other work as well."

The project also overcame budgetary constraints through the use of value engineering, which the team used to trim $6 million in costs while still executing the architect's aesthetic vision.

Key Players

Developer: New Jersey Transit; New York Waterway

Architect: Gruzen Samton

General Contractor: Conti Enterprises

M-E-P Engineer: Flack + Kurtz

Structural and Marine Engineer: McLaren Engineering

Construction Manager: URS

Design Consultant: Envar Services

Precast Services: Newcrete Products

Exterior Curtain Wall: Innovative Glazing Systems

Power-Lighting-Fire Alarm-Emergency Power: HBC Co.

Interiors: Sloan Interiors

Ornamental Metals: RCC

Mechanical-Plumbing-Fire Protection: A&A Mechanical; Cerullo Fire Protection

Marine Specialties Installation: Reicon Group

Barges: Orange Shipbuilding

Dredging: Clean Earth