Goethals Bridge
spring
Spring 2011 Contents
1
Project showcase: Goethals Bridge: Solution delivers blueprint for public-private collaboration South San Francisco Ferry Terminal: State-of-the-art seismic, marine and structural design plus geotechnical expertise ensures safe passage in the Bay Area TAV Brazil high-speed rail project: The first high-speed rail service in South America
2 3
Expanding expertise: New leaders create a foundation for expanded growth in transportation planning and our Canadian operations Spotlight on: Building services: Enabling the realization of architectural visions in a sustainable way
Halcrow’s global reputation in P3 for major bridges and innovative project delivery has been instrumental in developing a meaningful solution for the PANYNJ’s Goethals Bridge.
The Studio for Progressive Modelling: Cutting-edge technology applied to complex geometrical forms
We are happy to bring you the spring edition of our Americas magazine. Each quarter it will come to you full of information about what’s going on with Halcrow’s people, places and projects, and how we’re helping to solve some of our clients’ greatest challenges through planning, design and management services for sustainable infrastructure development worldwide.
Goethals Solution delivers for public-private
PROJECT SHOWCASE
Bridge: blueprint collaboration
Halcrow’s global reputation in public private partnerships (PPP) has been instrumental in developing a proposed solution for The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s (PANYNJ) Goethals Bridge Project. The 80-yearold bridge that links Staten Island to New Jersey is a key regional crossing for commuters and goods movement. Given its aging condition, it has
required many high-cost temporary fixes. Since 2002, PANYNJ has invested US$225 million in repairs. The existing bridge with narrow lanes was not built for today’s traffic and is heavily congested. PANYNJ recently gained NEPA environmental clearance for a new iconic replacement cablestayed bridge. However, if the new
bridge were to be financed and procured conventionally it would have to wait in line, given other demands on the capital program. Meanwhile, the existing bridge would continue to deteriorate, which would drain resources for further unavoidable repairs to an obsolete asset. A method was needed to accelerate investment in a new bridge, to maximize value to the region, maintain mobility and stimulate economic development. Critical to PANYNJ was that ‘doing it differently’ should not come at an unreasonable price, that the solution should be based on a proven delivery method, adapted as necessary to suit PANYNJ’s circumstances, and that PANYNJ should retain certain operational functions including toll revenue and security. Halcrow’s expertise in P3 for major bridges and innovative infrastructure project delivery was to provide the answer. Halcrow was initially retained to review delivery alternatives and started by critically assessing other private finance delivery models from the firm’s extensive US and global experience. The Halcrow team collaborated closely with PANYNJ staff at all levels and across various departments to understand the financial constraints, unique operating conditions, and the project’s technical and regulatory complexity. Ultimately, a project delivery model, DesignBuild-Finance-Maintain (DBFM), was proposed and developed in outline. This model was chosen because it would allow PANYNJ to retain operational control of the new bridge, would encourage the private sector to manage key construction, life cycle and financing risks and would allow technical innovations within project constraints to deliver a high-quality and cost-effective new bridge.
Following acceptance in principle by PANYNJ of the delivery model, Halcrow was retained as procurement engineer and has been advising and supporting PANYNJ’s project team on development of the procurement strategy, technical requirements and management of the project delivery program.
The project’s success has longer-term implications for the engineering industry – acting as a showcase for P3 collaboration in the design A key feature of the project is the of effective solutions importance of design visual quality to replace antiquated and the desire of PANYNJ and other agencies to ensure the new bridge exceeds infrastructure assets. expectations. Halcrow has applied its experience in procuring and delivering other visually important structures in the US and globally, to advise PANYNJ the best way of communicating these important requirements in the procurement process.
The project’s success has longer-term implications for the engineering profession and infrastructure industry as well – acting as a marquis project for public-private collaboration in the design of effective solutions to replace antiquated infrastructure assets. For more information on our transportation engineering expertise, contact Jonathan Startin at (212) 608 3990 or email startinja@halcrow.com.
PROJECT SHOWCASE
Seismically-sensitive situation: South San Francisco Ferry Terminal Halcrow’s Oakland-based team completed a unique design project for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority’s (WETA) South San Francisco Ferry Terminal, the first of several new passenger ferry terminals that will be built in the San Francisco Bay Area. WETA manages passenger ferry operations in the Bay Area and is charged with providing a critical emergency response link when bridges and passenger rail lines fail in the event of a major earthquake. WETA and its contractor looked to Halcrow for its expert skills in the areas of state-of-the-art seismic design, marine design, structural design, and geotechnical service capabilities to develop the seven new ferry terminals.
Courtesy of Roma Design Group
Halcrow was responsible for the structural and geotechnical design of the pedestrian ramps, viewing terrace and the pier that will provide access to the ferry. It prepared detailed construction plans and specifications in partnership with the contractor for a value-engineered project that could be built on an expedited schedule. The design team utilized advanced performance-based analysis to develop a pre-cast, post-tensioned segmented concrete structure design more commonly seen in bridge design projects. The fine tolerance afforded by pre-casting the structural elements allowed for designing a terminal that met the aesthetic vision of the architect while at the same time reducing cost and speeding construction.
The analytical approach was similar to the approach used by Halcrow for marine oil terminals and container terminals in high-risk seismic areas of California. However, a much more stringent performance expectation was applied in order to ensure continued safe operation of the terminal following a major earthquake on the nearby San Andreas fault. This project is currently well into construction and on track to finish ahead of schedule with no unforeseen cost overruns. For more on our marine construction expertise, contact Rob Andrews at (510) 452-0040 or andrewsrj@halcrow.com.
PROJECT SHOWCASE
Brazil boasts many new engineering opportunities Brazil is currently a hotbed of engineering opportunities, especially in the sectors of transportation and natural resources. Halcrow’s local team, based out of Rio de Janeiro, is leading the charge, consistently winning diverse projects across this region of the world. Recent projects targeted and secured include:
TAV Brazil high-speed rail project Halcrow signed a major contract extension with the Inter-American Development Bank to support the Brazilian government with the evaluation of tenders for the Trem de Alta Velocidade (TAV) highspeed rail concession. The 46-year concession covers design, construction, operation and maintenance for the new 510km route, which will link the major economic centers of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. This contract builds on the work previously undertaken by Halcrow
to produce a comprehensive set of feasibility studies. As the sole technical advisor, Halcrow is now responsible for leading the evaluation of bidders’ technical submissions, including technology transfer proposals. A team of approximately 30 experts from Halcrow will be based in Brazil to undertake the detailed evaluation of the preferred bidder’s technical submission. The TAV system will be the first highspeed rail service in South America and the first in the Americas on a dedicated alignment, with an estimated cost of at least R$ 33 billion (US$ 20 billion).
Basic design for reuse for industrial water supply, Rio de Janeiro The project consists of 55km of 1200mm main pipe for wastewater reuse for industrial supply to a Petrochemical Pole. 17km of this pipe will be located under the seabed, crossing the Guanabara Bay, and two other sections (100m each) will cross the Imbuaçu River and the Cunha Canal.
around Halcrow was honored with three awards for engineering excellence at the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of New York’s recent awards dinner. Winning the Diamond Award in the category of Surveying and Mapping Technology/ Small Project was the Newtown
Creek Central Residuals Facility BIM Model. The Brooklyn Bridge Maritime Assessment took home the Gold Award in the category of Special Projects, and the Transportation Funding and Financing Advisory Services for Goethals Bridge was presented with the Silver Award in the same category.
Marina da Gloria Halcrow was hired to evaluate and redesign the pre-existing marina facilities with a simple, practical, functional and low maintenance stance while maintaining the reliability of the facilities, as well as work together with Engineering SA and the client on the conceptualization of the project for both the marina and the convention center.
Traffic study of rodovias BR101 Espiritu Santo Halcrow will develop a demand study to identify the qualitative and quantitative demand characteristics of this road on the Espiritu Santo state and the southern area of Bahía state. The BR-101 route is one of the main roads in Brazil, passing through 12 states with almost 5,000km of extension. For more on Halcrow’s work across Latin America contact Sergio Sour at +54 11 4311-4911 or email soursf@halcrow.com.
EXPANDING EXPERTISE
New leaders create a foundation for expanded growth in transportation planning and our Canadian operations Based in New York, Margarita Gagliardi joined Halcrow as senior vice president of transportation planning in the Americas. Her role includes providing leadership to teams of transport planners across the Americas specializing in traffic and revenue studies, route analysis, investment studies, carbon footprinting, and freight and goods movement planning and logistics. Margarita spent the last 20 years working for another major consultant. During her time there she served in a variety of roles and worked on many projects within the transportation market sector. Her last position was as senior vice president and national practice leader for planning services. Throughout her 30+ year career, Margarita has focused on overseeing and managing major transportation improvement projects throughout the region, from forecasting, concept design and alternatives analyses to final design and startup. Margarita Gagliardi
Based in Halcrow’s Toronto office, Chris Andrews, the new senior vice president and managing director, Canada, brings over 30 years of experience in consulting engineering design, business development, and senior management with a background in both private and public sector environments. Formerly with another Canadian-based global firm, Chris has been heavily involved with business development and project development opportunities both within Canada and internationally, focusing on building engineering opportunities in North America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, South America and China. He has played a lead role in the structural engineering design of numerous award-winning and innovative building projects. In his new role, Chris is responsible for providing overall strategic direction and growth for Halcrow’s Canadian operations in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver.
Chris Andrews
SPOTLIGHT ON
Building services: Enabling the realization of architectural visions in a sustainable way Halcrow Yolles’ building services team is a progressive powerhouse, enabling the realization of architectural visions in an energy-efficient manner. The practice, based in Chicago, is enhancing architectural design, influencing plans of new cities, and working to help make the world a sustainable place. The overall methodology integrates the skills of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering services; sustainability, analytics/building physics; structural; building envelope and the advanced optimization and modeling capabilities of our Studio for Progressive Modelling.
The building services team works alongside architects in the shaping of buildings with respect to performance and architectural design. The approach is highly integrated, beginning with involvement at the concept level. Sustainability and performance are extremely critical to achieve the highest level of architecture. Bringing these often-contradictory elements together requires challenging conventional architectural and engineering design, which the building services team is primed to address.
development in the environment, with the use of building energy simulation, climate analysis, sustainability guidelines, energy-use benchmarking, and bioclimatic strategies. Various expertise groups are brought together within Halcrow to help architects design cities that are sustainable, including district power, transportation, water, carbon reduction, energy efficiency and district thermal applications. The building services team is continuing to further analytical capabilities at this scale.
Our building services master planning consists of assisting architects, master planners and cities in developing strategies that reduce the impact of
For more information on our building services capabilities, contact Tom Willoughby at (312) 212 4205 or email thomas.willoughby@halcrowyolles.com.
The Studio for Progressive Modelling: Cutting-edge technology applied to complex geometrical forms Located in Halcrow’s Toronto office, the Studio for Progressive Modelling (SPM) is an in-house multidisciplinary team, led by Crispin Howes, that collaborates with architects and engineers to resolve issues associated with complex geometrical forms.
halcrow.com
The core SPM team includes specialists in the fields of mathematics, programming and structural engineering. The team’s skill base is further supplemented by a network of experts within Halcrow Yolles in fields such as structural, mechanical, facade engineering and in construction materials including structural steel,
glass and timber. This broad skill base allows the SPM to provide an integrated design approach at any phase of the project development. For more information on the SPM, contact Crispin Howes at (416) 363-8123 or email crispin.howes@halcrowyolles. com.