The extension of the No. 7 subway line to the new Hudson Yards neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan received a national Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) during the organization’s 2016 Engineering Excellence Awards gala in Washington, D.C. on April 19. The annual ACEC competition recognizes outstanding projects designed by private practice engineering firms from across the country. The project also received Diamond and Empire Awards from ACEC New York.
The $2.4 billion, 1.5-mile extension of the No. 7 subway line runs from the previous terminus at Times Square, west under West 41st Street, and south under 11th Avenue to West 34th Street. The new station links to 18 subway lines, essentially connecting the rest of the city to the Hudson Yards development, Jacob Javits Convention Center, the High Line, and the Hudson River waterfront.
“WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is proud to have played a key role in planning and designing a project that will have such a transformative impact on New York City,” noted Gregory Kelly, president and CEO of the U.S., Central and South America region of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff. “While extending much-needed transit service to Manhattan’s far west side, the No. 7 line extension has also been the catalyst for the establishment of an exciting new neighborhood, with the Hudson Yards redevelopment creating millions of square feet of office, residential and retail space.”
WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) and led conceptual, preliminary and final design for the subway extension on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Final design services included civil, structural, geotechnical, architectural, mechanical, electrical, and communications design elements, as well as construction cost estimating and scheduling support services. The firm assisted MTA in developing an overall construction program and contract packaging arrangements, provided construction support services, and served as systems integrator, responsible for ensuring that mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems perform interactively as designed.
The original 6,600-page EIS associated with the project considered not only the extension of the subway line, but also the expansion and modernization of the Javits Center and the rezoning of much of the west midtown area of Manhattan for commercial, residential and recreational development, which is projected to total $20 billion. The EIS, completed in 2004 on behalf of the MTA and the city planning commission, has been called the most complex document of its kind in New York history.
Today the 28-acre site and areas adjacent to the new station are undergoing significant transit-oriented development, including 55 Hudson Yards, a 51-story office tower; 3 Hudson Boulevard, a mixed-use 66-story tower; and 15 Hudson Yards, a 70-story residential high-rise. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is providing structural and/or mechanical-electrical-plumbing engineering for these high-rise projects, and the firm is also designing an extension of a new park and boulevard in the area.
