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Best of 2006 Awards
Metropolitan Avenue 2006 Bridge Renovation
AWARD OF MERIT: Bridge
 Finishing a large rehabilitation project on a working bascule bridge in Brooklyn is hard enough. But beating the clock by 12 months makes it “amazing,” one juror said.
The four-lane Metropolitan Avenue Bridge over the English Kills, an industrial waterway in Brooklyn’s East Williamsburg neighborhood, carries 36,000 cars and trucks daily. Meanwhile, maritime traffic on the waterway below calls for opening the span once a day on average, though during winter months, when ships laden with heating oil are steaming up and down the English Kills, the span opens multiple times each day. The existing 1931 span had replaced another bridge on the site dating to the 19th Century.
Time and usage had taken their toll on the bridge, prompting the New York City Department of Transportation to launch the $41 million rehabilitation project in 2003. Key goals included complete replacement of the bridge’s electric and mechanical systems, replacement of many steel structural members that had significantly deteriorated, and improvements to sidewalks and bridge approaches.
The project had a year-long design and procurement phase, which was intended to cut down on actual construction time and traffic disruptions. Construction began in January 2004, using a two-stage plan that allowed at least one lane of traffic to flow in each direction at all times. Major tasks in the effort included replacing the open steel grid deck flooring, as well as the bascule span’s stringers and the concrete overlay at the counterweights.
The team also built a new two story operator house and installed new barrier gates and street lighting. Other tasks included construction of a new wing and retaining walls with a granite overlay at the approaches and the replacement of the bridge’s electrical control system with programmable logic controller technology.
The team also installed a backup hydraulic system that can open or close the bridge during emergencies. The best-laid plans almost came undone when the team discovered soil contaminated with lead and oil on the landside of both banks, particularly on the east side – all of which required environmental remediation. Other surprises included varying subsurface conditions that meant the team had to drive some steel pipe piles 85 ft. into the ground, which was more than twice as deep as the original planned depth.
Crews also had to work around an existing pier not found on any of the plans. Still, the project stayed ahead of schedule throughout, due in large part to the use of longer daily shifts and weekend work. The project finished this summer, rather than the anticipated July 2007 completion date.
“It was a nice job, an interesting project,” another juror said.
Key Players
Owner: New York City Department of Transportation
Contractor: Kiewit Contractors
Design Services: Edwards and Kelcey
REI Services: HAKS Engineers
Electrical-Mechanical Design: Hardesty and Hanover
Electrical-Mechanical REI Services: HNTB |
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