CORNERSTONE - The Associated General Contractors of New York ...

AGC NYS CORNERSTONE Winter 2011 The Nassau Expressway is a vital
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Build NY Honorable Mention: Tully Construction Company
Rehabilitation and Resurfacing of the Nassau Expressway
link in the transportation network
of Southeastern Queens, serving
as a connector highway for passenger
and commercial traffic between John F.
Kennedy International Airport, the Van
Wyck and JFK expressways and the
Belt Parkway. It is also a sensitive and
crucial route for trucks and emergency
vehicles.
The project was to make repairs along
the full 3.5-mile length of the Nassau
Expressway between Cross Bay Boulevard
and Farmers Boulevard. Repairs
also had to be made along the 2.5mile
section of Rockaway Boulevard
between Farmers Boulevard and the
Nassau County line as well as to ramps
connecting the Nassau Expressway
with the Van Wyck and JFK expressways.
The main improvements to the Nassau
Expressway were the rehabilitation of
seven bridges on the Western end of the
project. Three bridges, the Nassau Expressway
over the Van Wyck Expressway,
Lefferts Boulevard and 134th
Street, have received complete superstructure
replacement (460,000 KG
of Structural Steel). Two others, Belt
Parkway over Nassau Expressway and
Nassau Expressway over South Conduit
Avenue, have undergone replacement
of the concrete deck pavement
(~8000 SQM of Bridge Deck including
~320,000 KG of Rebar) and structural
steel repairs.
The JFK Expressway ramp over the
Nassau Expressway ramp and the Nassau
Expressway Bridge over the Belt
Parkway received repairs to the bridge
pavement and were painted to protect
against weather deterioration.
A major portion of the projects included
the use of 1200 precast concrete slabs
at the intersection of Rockaway Parkway
and the major commercial access
points for JFK airport. Although designed
into the job by the design engineer,
the innovation here is that this was
the largest project of its type in the state
and the first one in the five boroughs
of New York. This work was done in
three major intersections along
the Nassau Expressway/Rockaway
Blvd corridor because of
the heavy truck traffic entering
and leaving the freight and distribution
areas of JFK Airport.
The uniqueness of the precast
slab system was that they allowed
for a concrete road to
be installed over night and the
roadway to be reopened to traffic
each morning.
The procurement and release
of long lead items such as the
bridge steel & bearings for
fabrication of five Superstructures
was based on Tully’s field
survey before the project was
awarded. This advancement
and risk taking of ordering the
steel before the construction
plans were approved and shop
drawings were submitted was
critical to the success of bringing
the project in under budget
and with early completion. The
potential delay that could have
been caused by waiting for all
the approvals was avoided.
Work was expected to be completed
in June 2011. The job
was completed over 6 months
ahead of schedule with completion
of the last bridge in December
2010.
Team Members
General Contractor: Tully Construction Company, Inc.
Owner: New York State Department of Transportation
Project Engineers: Gannett Fleming Engineering and Architects P.C.
Jeffrey J. Zogg B