Metro-North Chooses ECCO III to Perform Emergency Design-Build Contract for Repairs to the Park Avenue Viaduct

On July 19, 2016, ECCO III Enterprises, Inc. was selected by MTA/Metro-North Railroad to perform the Design and Construction Services for the Emergency Repairs to the Park Avenue Viaduct, located along Park Avenue between East 117th and East 118th Streets in the Borough of Manhattan.

The project is intended to restore the structural integrity of the Park Avenue Viaduct, after a very serious fire, which occurred directly beneath the viaduct in May 2016 caused severe damage to the structure. Damage included the buckling of the center column of Bent No. 32 and impairment to the center girders and various floor beams supporting the four high-volume tracks which carry Metro-North trains to and from Grand Central Terminal. Damage was also caused to the fascia girders, exterior columns, concrete deck and paint system.

The project includes two phases:

Phase I of the project encompasses the design, installation, maintenance, and monitoring of a temporary support system intended to fully support the existing viaduct superstructure for all dead load, live load and impact load to enable all train operations along the viaduct to be restored to an unrestricted state.

Phase II will consist of the permanent replacement of the damaged column and associated components, including restoration of existing foundation to assure its capacity to safely support all imposed loads from the superstructure above.

The ECCO III Design-Build Team, including KC Engineering and Land Surveying, PC as Lead Designer, provided a proposed solution with a primary focus on the project schedule, allowing ECCO III to meet the Project goals and engage the temporary support system as quickly as possible, in order to expedite Metro-North regaining full use of this crucial track segment.