THE GOETHALS BIOGRAPHY SUMMARY BRIDGE Seth Condell is a structural The Port Authority of New REPLACEMENT engineer specializing in the York and New Jersey is design, rehabilitation, and replacing the 1928 Goethals PROJECT inspection of long-span and Bridge. The replacement complex bridge structures crossing will be a, state-of- since 1998. the-art dual-span cable-stayed structure connecting Mr. Condell has held key Elizabeth, New Jersey and roles in the design of the new Staten Island, NY. Crossing Tacoma Narrows Suspension the Arthur Kill with a 900 ft Bridge, the new Autoroute 25 main span. Including Cable-Stayed Bridge in sidespans, each cable-stayed Montreal, Quebec and the span boasts a total of 1,635 ft new Fore River Lift Bridge in of suspended deck. The cable Massachusetts. Mr. Condell stayed main bridge is, has also held key roles in the however, only a portion of construction engineering of the overall project. the Lions Gate Bridge and as SETH CONDELL, PE a designer for the Carquinez The project will be LEED AP Suspension Bridge near San constructed under a Public ENVISION SP Francisco, California. Private Partnership (P3) with a 35 year concession period. Mr. Condell is currently the Design Manager for the The towers of the dual-span Goethals Bridge Replacement bridge structure together Project, connecting New form a “double V” York and New Jersey., configuration. This overseeing the design and configuration was selected Engineering Services During such that the stay cables Construction for this $935M diverge from the roadway, project. The crossing providing both an “open” consists of a 7,306.5 ft long driving experience and an dual span, a railroad bridge aesthetically pleasing form replacement, utility upgrades, that fits the context of the low level stream crossing, surrounding area. The on-bridge utilities, the superstructure of the cable- realignment of a local street stayed spans will feature a in New York, and access patent pending structural roads on both sides of the framing system that provides Arthur Kill. a unique level of redundancy and improved overall structural resiliency. Page 1 of 9 THE GOETHALS BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT Introduction and Site History Project Overview The site of the Goethals Bridge Replacement Having provided almost 90 years of reliable Project is no stranger to historic crossings. While service, the existing Goethals Bridge was designed a ferry crossing at the site that helped to establish and built to standards from the dawn of the age of Staten Island as an important link in the overland the automobile. With current traffic volumes and stage coach route between Philadelphia and New future projects, the crossing is functionally York can be traced back to the 1690’s, the first obsolete. The bridge features substandard 10-foot- span across the Arthur Kill (a 10 mile long river wide lanes – two in each direction – and no channel between Staten Island, NY and Elizabeth, shoulders, which presents a safety concern for New Jersey) would not be erected until the trucks and large vehicles. Situated on Interstate American Revolution. At the site of the current 278, the current crossing is a source of peak hour crossing, British troops erected a pontoon bridge congestion. which was short-lived as the crossing was The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey subsequently destroyed by the same troops to slow (“The Authority”) has thus undertaken the current the advance of the Continental Army after the replacement project to remove this choke point in American victory at the Battle of Springfield later the region’s transportation network and also has that year. strategically timed the replacement to avoid costly The Kill would not be spanned again for over 100 repairs over the next decades if the existing bridge years, until 1890, when the Baltimore and Ohio were to remain in place. Railroad erected the Arthur Kill Bridge - a swing The replacement crossing will be a dual span, bridge at the site that boasted the world’s longest state-of-the-art cable-stayed structure connecting swing span at 500 ft. (This swing bridge remained Elizabeth, New Jersey and Staten Island, NY. in service until 1959 when the Arthur Kill Vertical (See Figure 1.) Crossing the Arthur Kill with a Lift Bridge was opened nearby. This bridge holds 900 ft main span, the new bridge will provide a the world record for longest lift span at 558 feet.) significant navigational improvement over the In response to growing congestion of the ferry current 672 ft horizontal clearance for marine system, economic development of Staten Island, traffic. Including sidespans, each cable-stayed and the rise of the automobile, the New York Port span boasts a total of 1,635 ft of suspended deck. Authority, formed in 1921 (later the Port Authority The cable stayed bridge is, however, only a of New York and New Jersey), commissioned the portion of the overall project. The project in its study of, and later the construction of a vehicular entirety includes over 7,300 feet of elevated crossing at the site. Designed by Alexander mainline structure in each direction, a new railroad Waddel, one of the nation’s preeminent bridge bridge west of the New York toll plaza, a engineers of his day, the Goethals bridge is in fact maintenance and control facility for the named after the Port Authority’s first Consulting Developer, and an access road through the swamp Engineer, George Washington Goethals of Panama land on the New York side to facilitate Canal fame. Opening in 1928, the Goethals maintenance and inspection, including its own Bridge became the first of three vehicular low-level crossing of Old Place Creek. crossings that link Staten Island, one of the five The project is being constructed under a Public boroughs of New York City, to New Jersey1. Private Partnership lead by Macquarie Infrastructure, who will finance the bridge 1 construction and maintenance for the 35 year While the Goethals Bridge is in fact the first of the three Crossings, Goethals, Outerbridge and Bayonne, it concession period. The lead contractor is a joint is an interesting historical footnote that the ceremonial venture between Kiewit Corporation, Weeks ribbon cutting party drove directly from the ceremony at the Goethals Bridge to a similar ceremony at the Outerbridge Crossing later that same day. It is also of outermost of the three Staten Island Bridges, but in fact interest to note that despite common misconception, the named after the first Commissioner of the New York Outerbridge Crossing is not so named because it is the Port Authority, Eugenius H. Outerbridge. Page 2 of 9 Marine, and Massman Construction Company, Cable Stayed Bridge (KWM) with design services by Parsons. Configuration The new crossing will be constructed to the south The bridge consists of a 900’-0” main span, two of the existing bridge and will feature three 12 foot 367’-6” back spans, a 190’-0” west flanking span, wide eastbound and three 12 foot wide westbound and a 157’-6” east flanking span. See Figure 2. lanes, with full shoulders and a shared use / Both the eastbound and westbound structures will bicycle-pedestrian path on the westbound bridge. carry three 12 foot wide lanes with full shoulders – Additionally, the bridge was designed for a future a vast improvement over the existing structure. transit corridor between the structures. The main towers are configured as a double “V” in Recognizing the significant investment, the elevation, with each “V” supporting independent Authority has prescribed the main components of structures. To comply with a project requirement the structure to provide an extended service life, prohibiting vertical tower legs, the team with the design team tasked to demonstrate that configured the tower legs with a 5 degree outward major components provide up to 150 years of lean. See Figure 5. With the open V shaped reliable service before a major rehabilitation event. towers and the outward lean of the stay cables, all The following paper will focus on the cable stayed cable and structure above the roadway has been bridge. eliminated, and the hazard of ice falling from these components onto passing cars has been minimized. Applying a philosophy of designing safety into a project, this configuration was deemed important by the design team, as falling Figure 1: Site Location Map Page 3 of 9 Figure 2: Main Bridge Configuration. Note Shallow Stay Cable Angles. ice has plagued other crossings in the region. edge girders, transverse floorbeams spaced at 15- ft, and two longitudinal redundancy trusses. Strict Service Life requirements are being applied to the project to ensure the new crossing serves the Project specific live loading ensures resiliency of public for many years to come. Specifically, non the deck under the punishment of heavily laden replaceable components such as the towers and traffic. Resulting from Weigh-in-Motion studies foundations are being designed for a service life of specific to the New York City area, a modified not less than 150 years. For replaceable HL-93 loading consisting of a 15kip front axle and components, a defined level of remaining service five 29 kip trailing axles was developed for the life has been identified as a part and parcel to the project and included in the criteria for deck design. hand back conditions that NYNJ Link must See Figure 3. provide at the end of the concession agreement when the facility is turned over to the PANYNJ in full. Deck System For the cable stayed spans, the deck consists of full depth, lightweight precast concrete panels, made continuous by way of concrete closure pours over the floorbeams, edge girders, and between panels. The deck panels are then provided with a Figure 3: Project Specific Live Load Truck polyester polymer concrete overlay.