Replacement of Tower Elevators & Misc. Rehab at the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge (MP-09)

Photo Credit: PDK Commercial Photographers. Ltd. dba Bernstein Associates

Marine Parkway – Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, a 540’ long vertical lift bridge, is a vital link between the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs of New York City that provides access to the Rockaway Peninsula, connecting thousands of people to local beaches. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) recognized that the bridge needed urgent repairs and upgrades to continue to provide safe and reliable service. The bridge’s span locks desperately needed an upgrade. Span locks are crucial machinery on vertical lift bridges. When engaged, they assure the middle span stays in the closed position and prevent unwanted or accidental lifting. On top of the issues with the span locks, the bridge’s tower service elevators were broken and several structural steel components on the bridge needed replacement. The MTA wanted to complete the renovations to the bridge on a very aggressive schedule to accommodate the increase in traffic and marine vessels that typically occurs in the summer.

At the time of the contract award, all construction projects in the state of New York valued at $25 million – $200 million were required to use design-build. Though the MP-09 project did not meet that threshold, MTA Construction and Development still found value in applying the approach to the project to afford themselves the opportunity to take an active role in the design and construction of the project’s varied scope, and to encourage development of innovative designs, planning and logistics.

How Design-Build Led to Innovative and Efficient Solutions

As a result of the collaborative design-build process, the project team was able to come up with innovative solutions, including prefabrication and advanced building materials. The best example of this innovative thinking is the team’s decision to use a one-of-a-kind span lock that was greaseless, maintenance free and took up 25% less space than the previous design. The new span lock was a modular assembly that was prefabricated off site then brought to the project and put into place. This was faster and more efficient than on-site assembly. For the cladding and grating, the project team used fiberglass instead of steel. With fewer maintenance needs, bridge closures will occur less often. And the project team used reality capture techniques, such as LiDAR and 360° photogrammetry, to collect point cloud and observational data to develop complete, digital representations of the project with real-time precision and accuracy.

This project had a relatively small dollar value, but the impact was huge. The renovation of the bridge ensures that it will continue to provide maintainable, safe and reliable service for many years to come.

Design-Build Team

Photos