Replacement of Tower Elevators and Miscellaneous Rehabilitation, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Highway/Bridge

Region: ENR New York

Submitted by: Kiewit Infrastructure Co.

Owner: MTA Capital Construction and Development Co.

Lead Design Firm: Kiewit Engineering (NY) Corp.

General Contractor: Kiewit Infrastructure Co.

Structural & MEP Engineer: WJE Engineers & Architects P.C.

Architect: Sowinski Sullivan Architects

MPT Designer: Matrix New World Engineering

High winds and a tight schedule made replacement of two tower elevator systems and upgrades to locks, gates, counterweights and mechanical components on the nearly 90-year-old Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge no easy feat. But with innovative ideas, collaboration and a focus akin to surgeons conducting an operation, the design-build team completed a rehabilitation of the 540-ft-long vertical lift bridge that is expected to make maintenance safer and less necessary for years to come.

The bridge connects the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, N.Y., to the Belt Parkway and Marine Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. Belying the relatively small project dollar value of about $18 million, the implications were significant for maintenance crews, boaters and local beachgoers. After work began in late 2022, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) mandated that the project be finished, with functional locks, by Memorial Day 2024, when the busy summer season begins. The bridge is also a critical link between the Rockaway peninsula and Brooklyn, and serves as an evacuation link for the New York City area in case of events such as Superstorm Sandy.

While north and south bridge elevators were installed in 2005, “we constantly experienced operational issues,” says Romolo DeSantis, senior vice president of construction development for MTA’s Bridges and Tunnels division. “The traveling cable that supported the controls for the cabs would snag, especially during high winds.” With a harsh marine environment and the bridge’s age, “the elevators needed constant maintenance,” he adds.

The maintenance team was especially concerned that the north tower elevator never worked, and the south tower elevator functioned only after MTA’s maintenance contractor would troubleshoot it. As a result, personnel had to climb as many as seven different open-air ladders—120 ft over an active roadway—with heavy tools and materials for maintenance activities.

Kiewit furnished and installed elevators that could withstand harsh conditions and built a fiberglass enclosure system that will extend the elevators’ service life. “We were out there looking at the steel members, and a lot of the pieces were corroded,” says Sean Gayle, Kiewit project manager. The company removed and replaced 42 steel components within the existing budget.

Two new elevators and four new span locks on an old movable lift bridge were replaced with safer, more durable systems that include components of stainless steel, fiberglass and a hard plastic called nylatron to maximize resistance to the harsh marine environment.
Photo by PDK Commercial Photographers Ltd DBA Bernstein Associates

Both towers’ elevator shafts had an irregular lean due to decades of corrosion. The team conducted a Lidar scan during design, did field surveys and measured to assure the new equipment would fit in the shafts with proper clearance. Crews used spider baskets to replace steel members and install cladding 150 ft in the air. As for the span locks, “we proposed during solicitation an almost maintenance-free product,” says Gayle. The new locks consist of galvanized or stainless steel bolts to avoid future rust removal or painting, and nylatron—a hard plastic—on all wearing surfaces that requiries no grease during maintenance.

Span locks were prefabricated off site. Instead of cutting a hole through the existing grid deck to bring in the assembly mechanism, the team rigged the locks off the side of the bridge, pulling them up. Replacing the original system, which had used a single motor per tower, are four independent actuator-driven span locks. “It allows for improved load distribution, more redundancy and reduced maintenance,” says DeSantis.

With four new span locks, “we had to come up with two additional spaces” for electrical power, says Yang Zheng, WJE associate principal, requiring new electrical cabinets and function boxes. “We surveyed what spare wires were there and determined if they were sufficient for the new system. They were.”

To keep up with the tight schedule, Kiewit added more craftworkers and implemented shift configurations such as a night shift for eight weeks to install the South Tower elevator steel during low winds. The elevator was completed in 107 days, 46 days faster than the North Tower. The new locks were completed in 166 days, well ahead of the 180-day Coast Guard outage allowed.

Nearly 66,000 worker hours yielded no recordable injuries. Designers incorporated cost-free preventative features to improve safety such as removing two intermediate, rarely-used landings in the shafts, widening access gates to counterweights and a handrail at the span lock platforms.

Kiewit also implemented its craft-only safety program CVIS, which includes Safety Team of the Week walks with craft and staff; MTA also hosted dedicated safety walks. For new employees, CVIS leaders demonstrated how best to safely operate various tools before a shift began. Each week, an expert hosted a Toolbox Talk centered on a particular safety topic.

As a reward for working safe, Kiewit bought its crews lunch from a food truck. “We selected members to sit with project managers on a weekly basis,” says Gayle. “It gives a chance for craft to talk directly to us about what’s going on—honest conversations.”