New York City’s Economic Development Corp. was planning for a new Ferry Homeport at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to allow up to 24 boats to fuel, pump waste, receive maintenance and dock overnight. Standing in the way of that effort was a substandard Pier C, which led to a $50-million project to demolish the old 81-ft by 690-ft timber structure and replace it with a modern steel pipe pile and concrete deck pier.

When the team encountered tests showing that planned anchor piles for the bulkhead were under the necessary capacity limits, it modified the backfill system and used controlled low strength material, reducing the load on the bulkhead and boosting tension capacity of the piles. 

The new pier features steel pipe piles with a diameter of 30 in. that were driven 120 ft into the bedrock, topped by precast concrete pile caps, then precast deck planks and above that a cast-in-place reinforced concrete deck. The new pier also stands 6 ft higher to avoid rising sea levels and storm surges.

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