Design-Build Bruckner Viaduct Contract #1
Location:
Bronx, NY
Client:
NYSDOT
Contract Value:
$205.9 Million
Project Dates:
2018 - 2021
Summary
• Demolition and reconstruction of ramps
• Replacement of drainage pipes
• Heavy highway construction
• Concrete work
• Paving
• UHPC joint installation
PROJECT OVERVIEW
This project entailed a major rehabilitation of the Bruckner Expressway for the NYS DOT, to extend its service life by another 40 years. The expressway had been in service for over 50 years and shows extensive steel bridge pier deterioration. The scope of work was to replace 1.25 miles of a 6-lane elevated highway bridge decks with stainless steel reinforced High-Performance-Self Consolidating Concrete, replace the approach slabs beyond the ramp abutments, replace over 1,300 of the existing bearings with steel laminated elastomeric bearings and replaced existing pedestals with new reinforced concrete pedestals. Tully Posillico JV used link-slabs to eliminate most of the expansion joints on the deck, utilizing UHPC. The team also replaced the remaining existing joints with armorless joints, performed concrete repairs on the piers, upgraded the drainage and lighting systems (light poles above deck, and lighting underneath deck for the main road for street lighting) and replaced overhead sign structures.
WHAT MADE THIS JOB COMPLEX
Working on a highway or a bridge always presents challenges and risks. It requires creating different work zones, staging areas and managing traffic to handle project logistics. All maneuvering of equipment and material deliveries needed to take place within NYSDOT lane closure guidelines.
The ultra-high-performance concrete used for the joints is a fast-curing product and required onsite production to ensure installation happened within a short time frame. The project phasing was in part dictated by lane closure permits, requiring exclusively weekend work within determined hours for some specific work sections. A change in the delivery requirements required the JV team to rephase the staging schedule, redesign sections of the project, adjust material deliveries, in order to open a ramp a month earlier than originally scheduled.
HOW POSILLICO SOLVED IT
The largest challenge on this project was work sequence and logistics, and the construction team took those head on, with the support of the team designer’s diligent planning: drawings and plans were adjusted daily providing the builders with the necessary flexibility to maintain pace for schedule, permits were extended to accommodate work that needed to be done outside of the originally defined hours, and shop drawings were approve expeditiously to facilitate prompt orders. The Design-build team developed a jacking and pinning system to allow bearing replacements to take place under live traffic, to minimize impact to the travelling public.
Tully Posillico JV added crews and night shifts when necessary to meet the schedule, and prioritized safety training, safety stand-downs, and traffic management/control as key elements of an all-around successful project.
