By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

East Side Access

The East Side Access is a $10 billion MTA project which will connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The project involves several major construction initiatives: excavating and constructing a new rail tunnel extending from Sunnyside, Queens into Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, and constructing mined caverns under the existing Grand Central Terminal for the new passenger rail station.

Tectonic is providing special inspection and materials testing for all soils, cast-in-place concrete, asphalt, structural steel, precast concrete, shotcrete, earth anchors, blast monitoring, pile driving, grouting and underpinning for three separate contracts  involving tunneling, site work and mined caverns. It is also providing geotechnical engineering services for pile driving, earth anchors, blast monitoring and underpinning.

Tectonic also provided surveying and structural engineering services for the design of an elevated conveyor system to transport excavated material from the new MTA subway tunnel to a transfer station.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Newburgh Enlarged Central School District

The City of Newburgh School District is an expanded district that encompasses two adjacent towns. As a result of the aged facility inventory and magnet school educational approach, the consolidation of some schools and the expansion of others to accommodate the student population have required significant infrastructure upgrades. Tectonic provided a variety of services for improvements at 10 different schools in the City of Newburgh, Newburgh, and Town of New Windsor.

Services performed in connection with two separate bond referenda included: value engineering, boundary/topographic surveys, geotechnical/pavement investigations, site plans for SED approval (involving idrainage, grading, roadways, circulation, safety, parking lots, sidewalks, retaining walls, potable water, irrigation, and sanitary sewer), athletic facilities (two NFHS polyurethane-bound rubber running tracks, softball, multi-purpose fields, tennis courts), and SPDES stormwater compliance.

At three schools, the condition/safety of the roadways and parking lots was dramatically improved through the reconfiguration and reconstruction of discrete bus loading areas, separated parent drop-off locations, and new access roadways.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Central Park Police Precinct Soil Investigation

Remediation of an existing landmark police precinct building in Central Park. Three leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) were located on the property, adjacent to the existing building, which resulted in petroleum contamination of soils under and adjacent to the building.

A remedial investigation was performed in the building footprint to delineate petroleum impacted soils using shallow test pits, organic vapor screening and soil/groundwater sampling  accordance with NYSDEC DER-10.  A remedial investigation report was prepared including sampling methodology, test pit logs, data analysis, conclusions and remedial alternatives.  An indoor air assessment was conducted with an underslab vapor collection system and SVE remediation system designed and installed.

Tectonic worked with NYCDDC to get NYSDEC approval during these conditions discovered during construction to avoid project delays, remove several feet of petroleum-impacted soils, and address potential vapor intrusion to impacts future occupants.

The project received the following awards: 2013 ACEC Gold Award; 2012 Lucy Moses Award for outstanding preservation efforts; and 2010 ACEC Platinum Award to Tectonic for innovative design of a below grade SVE remedial system minimizing visual effect.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Mohave Solar Installation Design

Tectonic designed the steel structure and concrete foundation for a 24’ by 80’ by 16’ tall elevated canopy to support a photovoltaic solar panel array on the building. Additionally, Tectonic designed the building structure and foundation to house the batteries for the solar panel array. Geotechnical investigations and as-built drawing preparation are also being performed in order to obtain the necessary information to obtain a building permit for the site.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Term Agreements

Tectonic has been working with Con Ed through various Term Agreements over the last 15 years. As part of their Transmission and Substation electrical systems upgrades and improvements, Tectonic has provided the following services:

  • Structural engineering services for more than sixty (60) of Con Edison’s transmission towers.
  • Geotechnical and Environmental engineering. Geotechnical and environmental services including: performance of subsurface investigations, laboratory testing, geotechnical and environmental analyses, report preparation and geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring services.
  • Controlled inspection and materials testing services for soils, concrete, masonry, asphalt, and structural steel materials, preparation of inspection reports and performance of on-site investigations.
  • Land and property surveys, title searches, ROW and easement surveys, topographic surveys, hydrographic surveys, including soundings, construction and quantity surveys, transmission surveys including subsurface or overhead electric, gas and steam lines, and route feasibility surveys and studies.
By Greg Lopez 0 Comments

Danskammer & Roseton Power Plant Station Modifications

Two power plants located adjacent to each other on the west bank of the Hudson River in Newburgh, NY distribute power throughout the Hudson Valley. The 500 megawatt, 4-unit, coal-fired Danskammer Power Station and the 1200 megawatt, 2-unit, gas and oil-fired Roseton Power Station required several repairs. Under a 7-year term agreement, Tectonic provided on-call consulting engineering services for a multitude of task assignments. Tectonic performed structural analysis and design, structural inspections, load capacity evaluations, design of repairs to address existing conditions, accommodate new operational needs, and design of modifications and additions to various plant infrastructure.

By Greg Lopez 0 Comments

Solar Rooftop Installation Design at Cornell Bloomberg Building Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island Campus Construction

This project included the construction of a new Cornell Tech campus including two million square feet of state-of-the-art buildings, over two acres of open space that will become home to over 2,000 graduate students and hundreds of faculty. The construction included the installation of solar panels on the Bloomberg Center and Bridge building. When completed, the 12-acre campus will be known as one of the most environmentally friendly and energy efficient campuses worldwide. Tectonic provided engineering services for the installation of a rooftop solar system at the Bloomberg Center Building and Bridge Building.

Tectonic performed structural analysis and design of the proposed solar mounting steel support system. The support system for Bloomberg was composed of steel members and Unirac rails and the Bridge building was composed of Unirac rails at an 8-degree tilt. The design included a design to span the large 25’ and 30’ spans as required to support the PV panels. Tectonic also drafted structural design drawings and was involved with the permitting process with the NYC DOB.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Giants Stadium Met Life Blimp Structural Design

The MetLife Blimp is the most recognized blimp in the United States, covering nearly 70 on-air events annually. Tectonic was contracted to provide engineering analysis and design services for scale model MetLife Blimps to be installed overhead in the new Giants Stadium. Two identical Blimps will navigate an oval-shaped path above the Concourse # 1 Concessions Area. The Blimp components, including a fiberglass shell, steel support frame, and overhead track support were analyzed.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Tiffany & Co. Holiday Window Display

Tectonic performed structural engineering services for the Tiffany & Co. 2011 Christmas window display. This decorative display spanned 19 feet wide, over 15 ft. high, with an almost 5 ft. protrusion over the sidewalk. Tectonic provided a review of the preliminary drawings for the proposed Christmas lighting, as well as a detailed structural analysis to verify sizes of the display pieces and to determine the connection capacities.

By Juan Lopez 0 Comments

Con Edison Transmission Tower Analysis

In support of Con Ed’s transmission upgrades, Tectonic has performed structural engineering services for more than sixty (60) of Con Edison’s transmission towers ranging from 90′ ft. to 150′ ft. in recent years. Tectonic performed structural analyses, designed tower reinforcement and provided shop drawings and prepared as-built drawings as needed to bring all the towers into compliance with updated requirements from the PSC (Public Service Commission).