The 52-month, $210 million project was, “the largest completed job in our history,” says Jay Dier, President of The Judlau Companies.

Judlau began the reconstruction for New York City Transit in December 2002 and completed it in December 2008. It entailed replacing or repairing structural and component steel along the rail line, originally built at the turn of the 19th century, without disrupting train service and limiting adverse affects to Bronx businesses along the road.

At the start of the project, Judlau developed quality plans for all activities to ensure compliance with all contract specifications. The team knew what needed to be done and applied it to everyday work. The company also established safe work plans prior to starting an activity and reviewed safety goals, expectations and methods daily. Much of the work took place above the public.

Judlau implemented a temporary platform system, which was prefabricated offsite. Crews put the elevated structures into place during the 55-hour General Orders to lessen the project’s affect on the public by allowing for unencumbered train access during construction. The project consumed more than 4 million pounds of steel for the mezzanine construction and track repairs.

A 14-week contract mandate for the complete removal and replacement of nine hung mezzanine station structures while maintaining the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic below presented a major challenge. Safety was of huge concern during this process, but Judlau completed the work without a major incident.

New York City Transit asked the project team to recreate the original architectural touch, including detailed restorations of two historical stations constructed in the early 1900s. The quality management and project team educated themselves in modern techniques and materials to recreate the historical look while greatly improving the structural integrity of the stations.

“Our ability to get the work done while maintaining quality and safety standards was a big accomplishment,” says Gregg Jenkinson, project executive with Judlau.

Key Players

Owner: New York City Transit, New York
Contractor: Judlau Contracting, College Park, N.Y.
Engineering: New York City Transit, New York
Roof subcontractor: Custom Exterior Systems, Sloatsburg, N.Y.
Electrical and security contractor: JB Electric, New York
Column base repairs, power work: Kleinberg Electric, Inc., New York
Division 13 Trackwork, Division 2-demolition, Division 6-walkways and gratings work, Division 3-track bed concrete: North Star Contracting, New Rochelle, N.Y.
Painting: L&L Painting, Long Island City, N.Y.
Elevator: B&G Elevator: Newton, N.J.
Escalator: Shindler Group, Morristown, N.J.