PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood is one of several
that borders the Hudson River, benefiting from the
550-acre Hudson River Park. The park has been under
construction for some time, led by the Hudson River Park Trust,
which is working to create a public space that both serves the
needs of residents and tourists and protects the river habitat for
the aquatic species that live in it.
Park projects completed to date have won design awards from
the National Parks Service, the American Council of Engineering
Companies and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society
of Landscape Architects. The park is recognized for its innovative
design, a trend that a current project on Pier 26 in the Tribeca area
continues. (See the article Issue 3 2019 of PileDriver for information
about another unique project at the park’s Pier55.)
The $31-million Pier 26 project, expected to be completed this
year, will feature a tidal pool with native vegetation, a walkway,
soccer fields and a playground. The pier extension is expected to
attract wildlife and is intended to serve as an educational area to
connect the community with the area’s natural ecology.
Two PDCA members, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers
and Trevcon Construction, have been involved in the design and
construction of this eco-focused park space.
Project overview
The existing Pier 26 is being extended through the current project
with the creation of an ecological platform. As Roderic (Rick)
Ellman, Jr. – a structural engineer with Mueser Rutledge Consulting
Engineers (MRCE) since 1980 and a principal with the company
since 2006 – explains it, the platform is “situated in the tidal zone
to support an estuarine bio-habitat… It is connected to the upland
park on the existing portion of Pier 26 by means of two walkways.”
Andrew Foltiny, project manager at Trevcon Construction,
describes the pier development as “very environmentally focused.”
The ecological platform, he says, “will eventually incorporate many
unique features, including boulders, planted wetland vegetation,
oyster cages and even an area that retains fill to plant full trees on
the marine platform.”
The two walkways, says Foltiny, comprise an “aerial walkway
that will rise as it goes out towards the river, with a final elevation
as high as 15 feet above the platform… and a smaller ‘getdown’
walkway that slopes down and allows people to get much closer
to the river.”
Ironworkers make the final structural steel welds after
the aerial walkway precast planks are installed above
“Manhattan waterfront mostly consists of hard bulkhead with
very few opportunities to get closer to the water or an estuarine
habitat,” said Ellman. “The ecological platform is designed to afford
that access to the river and the habitat.”
Construction details
The 14,400-square-foot extension of the pier’s west side began with
the installation by Trevcon of 36 steel pipe piles, supplied by Edgen
Murray and Greens Bayou Pipe Mill.
“To determine estimated tip locations, we performed an indicator
pile program, which involved probing for bedrock in locations
dispersed throughout the footprint of the eventual platform,”
said Foltiny. “While there were some general trends in bedrock
elevations, they were relatively consistent in this area with no real
anomalies that would cause concern.”
The 36-inch-diameter, 1.25-inch-wall, open-ended piles with
welded driving shoes, coated with Carboglas 1601 glass flake
epoxy, ranged from 74 feet to 80 feet long. They were advanced to
bedrock using a Manitowoc 2250 crane mounted on a barge with
an ICE 55B vibratory hammer, then driven to final refusal with an
ICE I-62 impact hammer in hanging leads.
“The piles all generally ended up at final tip elevations that
could have been predicted by the indicator program,” said Foltiny.
“The geotechnical conditions allowed for relatively straightforward
pile driving, which is not always a given in this area.”
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
MB Western Industrial Contracting Co.
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
Civil, Piling & Marine Construction
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Safety, Quality, Experience & Value
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Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
“Safety Drives Our Success”
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
Phone: 281-487-5757
www.mbwestern.com
Continued on page 86
84 | ISSUE 1 2020 www.piledrivers.org
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