Award of Merit Highway/Bridge: Hunts Point Interstate Access Improvement Project - Contract 1
A new interchange and four new bridges serve the more than 78,000 daily vehicles that access area industrial and commercial properties, including the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, and remove thousands of trucks from local streets. The new Bronx River viaduct’s jointless bridge decks use link slabs to reduce deterioration to underlying structural elements, improving durability and reducing long-term maintenance. Eight existing structures were rehabilitated, including curved steel multigirder configurations. Ground improvement methods such as load balancing with lightweight cellular foam concrete fill were implemented to address the area’s soil capacity issues and mitigate long-term settlement. To minimize disruptions on an active rail corridor while constructing four new bridges, the team erected an overhead crane on top of a retained earth structure to safely move structural steel elements from one side of the tracks to the other.
The project includes modernized traffic and pedestrian control signals at multiple intersections, ADA-compliant sidewalks, bicycle lanes, a shared-use path and a new city-operated landscaped park.