The Challenge

  • Minimize effects on adjacent structures
  • Maintain rail operations during construction

The Hudson Yards project is one of the largest private real-estate developments in US history, at roughly $20 billion. Located in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the project encompasses three city blocks and two avenues. The project, constructed on a concrete platform over the existing Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) west side storage yard, entails 17 buildings (18 million square feet) including, but not limited to: office towers, retail and residential units, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a school.

The Solution

Geocomp provided instrumentation and monitoring services for two segments of this challenging project, the Hudson Yards Gateway Tunnel and the Hudson Yards Platform. The Gateway Tunnel project will be built beneath the existing LIRR west side storage yards to provide access to Penn Station, so that a future rail tunnel to New Jersey can be built. The Hudson Yards platform project consists of building a massive concrete platform above the existing LIRR storage yard to act as a base for vertical construction.

Geocomp’s primary objective was to determine if construction activities have any adverse effects on adjacent structures including: LIRR surface tracks, tunnels, buildings, retaining walls, NYCDOT viaduct and neighboring roadways. Instrumentation used to meet objectives included: inclinometers (14), observation wells (8), dynamic strain gages (33), prisms (25), AMTS units (3), pre-condition surveys (5), tilt meters (7), seismographs (30), fiber optic strain sensors (26), and settlement points (50). All data was gathered remotely and displayed in real-time via iSiteCentral®.

Services Provided

Instrumentation & Monitoring

Instrumentation and monitoring of various sensors to measure construction activities

Noise Monitoring

On-call noise monitoring for ambient noise levels to prevent complaints from neighboring businesses

Data Management

All sensor data collected via iSiteCentral® for real-time performance alerts and alarming features

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NATM analysis revealed lower risk and potential $60M
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Provide real-time data to evaluate construction
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Results for more efficient and cost-effective Asset
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