Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) Connector to Williamsburg Bridge
New York City, New York
Project Description
The BQE Connector Ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge is located in Brooklyn, New York and links the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, one of New York's major urban freeways, to the eastern approaches of the Williamsburg Bridge. The ramp carries high volumes of traffic every day and is a crucial component in New York City's highway network.
The original structure, built in the early 1950's, was a four lane steel viaduct constrained to a narrow alignment with buildings to each side in a dense residential and commercial neighborhood and was in need of such a significant amount of repair, it was determined a new structure would be more economical than rehabilitation.
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) chose to construct a precast segmental concrete bridge using span-by-span to replace the aging steel viaduct. The 1400 foot long twin parallel box girder superstructure (10 spans per bridge ranging in length from 24 meters to 47.9 meters with 278 precast segments total) was selected from a wide range of alternative concepts, including steel girders and other conventional solutions. Speed and ease of construction, long-term durability, and aesthetics were controlling factors in the selection of the segmental option.
American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI) Article: New BQE Connector Ramp to Williamsburg Bridge
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Owner
New York State Department of Transportation
Contractor
Perini Corporation (Superstructure Contractor)
The Fort Miller Company (Precast Contractor)
Designer
J. Muller International
Construction Engineer
Finley McNary Engineers
Total Contract Value
$34 million
Timeline
2000 - 2002
Construction Method
Twin precast segmental girders, with external longitudinal PT.
Erected using span by span method on support frame under box girder.
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Our Role
Jason Hatcher was employed as a Lead Senior Draftsman by Finley McNary Engineers from 2000 - 2001, and Parsons from September 2001 - June 2007. During that time, Jason was the lead draftsman on the BQE Connector Ramp project.
Jason took responsibility of this project for the construction engineer producing fully integrated shop drawings for the twin bridge ramps, totaling 278 precast superstructure segments.
