From the latest Construction Alert: some milestones nudged back; possibility for Atlantic Avenue median work to be done during the day, rather than at night

The latest two-week Atlantic Yards Construction Alert, dated 1/2/12, was distributed yesterday by Empire State Development (after preparation by developer Forest City Ratner).

As I noted yesterday, there was no mention of the shutdown of the arena facade contractor, or any prediction of how that might affect facade work.

While there's continued progress in several areas, there are some issues to point out:

• work on raised medians along Atlantic Avenue may be performed during daylight hours, as opposed to previous plans to do so only at night (other night work has been noisy)
• completion of bollard placement has been nudged back from December to January 
• some railyard drilling work has been nudged back a month
• some water main work has been nudged back a few weeks
• one Flatbush Avenue sidewalk may be temporarily impassible

The text below is excerpted from the latest document (bottom), with the bolded text indicating what's new compared to the previous alert.

Construction at the Arena Site

• Both of the two larger steel erection cranes inside the arena have been demobilized and replaced by a hydraulic crane in the Bowl.

Façade Installation

• The façade erector will continue the installation of erection clips and panels on the Flatbush Avenue and along the west elevations during this reporting period. The installation of curtain wall and curtain wall/lattice panels will continue on the Flatbush Avenue elevation during this reporting period. In the interest of public safety, and as approved by the New York City Building Department, pedestrians using the east side sidewalk of Flatbush Avenue next to the arena may be temporarily diverted to across the street by Hunt flagmen during high level work. The façade erector will continue with installation of erection clips along the 6th Avenue elevation this reporting period. Installation of the erection clips will continue on the Dean Street elevation during this reporting period.

Mechanical, Electrical, & Plumbing

• The piping for the storm/sanitary/water services from the street mains to the arena at 6th and Pacific has been cancelled for this reporting period, due to site constraints ((access at the main gate). This work will take place in March 2012. A second and/or third shift as well as weekend work is being considered to execute this work prior to March 2012.

(It doesn't make sense to have the work take place both in and prior to March.)

Interior Build-out

• Precast concrete stadia erection of the upper seating bowl was completed during the last reporting period at Blocks 10-12 (Dean Street elevation). Precast erection will resume within the lower bowl seating area following completion of roof erection. The placement of concrete column wraps will continue during this reporting period.
The gypsum wallboard (GWB) aka drywall framing & construction subcontractor will continue layout of walls during this reporting period and will begin placement of the top wall track and partition walls at all levels. Steel stud placement for partition walls will continue during this reporting period. The wallboard installation will continue on the Event Level, on Main Concourse, and on Lower Suite Level this reporting period.

Subway entrance: work outside the Fence

• Work on the northern and southern vent shafts along Flatbush Avenue is now substantially complete.

Steel Erection

• Steel erection of the above ground entrance canopy is now complete and the deck installation is substantially completed. The concrete structural roof slab has now been placed.

Railyard: Drilling – Support of Excavation, & Tiebacks

Some remaining drilling of tiebacks in the east and middle yard will continue. This tieback drilling and placement of the attendant wood lagging will continue for the next month, as they go together the remaining with excavation.

Drainage System

• Posillico/Tully is working from west to east to install deep drainage piping in the yard. They will also continue excavation for the associated stormwater manholes. This work will be ongoing for the next 3 months. Through this period, Retention Basins “A” and “B” have been completed and back-filled. Work will now move further east to Basins “C” and “D”.

Carlton Ave. Bridge

• Formwork for the footing of Pier #2 has been placed in a prepared excavation in the mid-yard. Rebar will be placed during this reporting period prior to pouring the Pier #2 footing in January.

East End (former Gasoline Station)

• Posillico/Tully will continue working on the lagging and tieback work at this location and continue to lower the grade there. SOE Pile-drilling in this area below grade is complete although caisson piles will be drilled in early February [previously: January] after the yard has been lowered. The excavation and associated support work will be on-going for the next couple of months.

Replacement of Adjacent Water Mains and other Utility Work

Stage One began in early August. The first work included the installation of a distribution water main along the sidewalk of Flatbush, north of Atlantic. The work is being done at night (10 pm to 6 am) and requires partial closure of the sidewalk and the curb lane of traffic during the work hours. The work will take two to three months in this location and then will move on southward and cross Flatbush. The bus stop at the west side of Flatbush, north of Pacific, has been removed by NYC DOT, per the approval of NYCTA. The trench for most of the work in the Flatbush sidewalk is completed and plated. The contractor will continue for the next month [previously: next 3 to 4 weeks]. Steel pipe was installed, welded and partially backfilled along the northern part of the zone.

Traffic Mitigation Site Work:Atlantic Avenue Medians

Work will begin late 1st quarter or early 2nd quarter 2012 on the remaining traffic mitigation work, most of which is made up of raised medians along Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Vanderbilt Avenue. OCMC is reviewing the scope and location of the medians and will determine whether the work shall be performed during limited daytime, which will prolong the construction period, or at night between 10 pm and 6 am. If the work is done at night, mobile light units will be used to illuminate the work area. The arena block, Carlton Avenue Bridge reconstruction and DDC utility work between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues also take lanes out of service. Therefore, the median work must be scheduled block by block to coordinate with the other work schedules and MPT configurations. Because the work is a few feet directly above the LIRR tunnel into Atlantic Terminal, the means and methods must be reviewed and approved by the LIRR.

(Previously, day work was not considered, but night work at Atlantic and Flatbush avenue caused huge concerns in October because of excessive noise.)

Arena Site Work

The revised Flatbush Avenue MPT is allowing work to continue on the installation of the Flatbush Avenue façade and the installation of bollards along this same stretch. Part of the overall site work for the arena block, bollard installation, commenced at the intersection of Dean and Flatbush in the area of the southern vents and is continuing north along Flatbush, eventually continuing around the entire block. The bollard work is anticipated to be complete by the middle of January [previously: middle of December]. Other work that will be done as part of the site work includes sidewalks, installation of pavers, street furniture, street trees, light and signal poles, way finding signage, hydrants and the canopy to the new subway entrance. Additional detail on the work will be provided as the contractor progresses.
Anticipated Nighttime & Weekend Work
During this reporting period the following work will be performed either at night or during the weekend as noted. All work will be done pursuant to approved permits:
• Long Island Rail Road/Vanderbilt Yard/ Carlton Avenue Bridge:
o All weekdays all locations in the yard: 6:00AM to 11:00PM
o Saturdays as required: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM
o Sundays and Holidays as required: 8:00AM to 11:00PM
o The weekend work being performed could be in any area of the yard, and within MPT areas for which permits are on hand.
o The work hours will remain in place for a minimum of the next three months.
• Arena Site:
o Arena weekend work will be scheduled no later than close of business on the preceding Thursday, where make-up work due to weather or other delays makes it necessary. Saturday work is expected to continue for this reporting period.
o Subject to receipt of permits, a second shift shall be continued throughout this reporting period, from 3 – 11 PM, Monday-Friday only. Also subject to receipt of permits, a third shift may be instituted during this reporting period, from 11 PM – 7 AM, Monday –Friday only.
o Hunt has been granted a permit to allow for deliveries from 6 AM to 7 AM to the Arena site from the dispatch center. This work allows for an additional hour of deliveries to take place outside the neighborhood peak traffic patterns and reduce congestion and interference with the local traffic.
o The second shift arena contractors are noted within the arena summary above.
• NYC Transit Improvements:
o Temporary concrete road decking will now be removed as noted above. Such work will be performed at night per DOT regulations. Traffic will be restored every morning according to DOT stipulations.
Work related to the BMT structure and below grade concrete, steel and MEP work may be conducted on Saturdays January 7th and 14th during this reporting period.
• Arena Site Work:
o Underground utility work may occur within the site at the main plaza. Work will be conducted during the hours of 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., subject to NYCDOB permits.
• Block 1129 – staging area:
o Contractors conducting night work may have cause to enter and exit this area as it serves as a staging and material/equipment storage area.

Atlantic Yards Construction Alert 1-2-2012