The new turntables balance the need for both security and appealing design

As deep down as 1,500 feet below the street, all the way up to 850 feet in the sky, there are a multitude of groundbreaking techniques, materials, and other innovations afoot on Lower Manhattan projects. Here’s a look at some of the latest technologies -- spanning safety, environmental, cost-savings, and construction-efficiency programs -- being used on construction projects south of Canal Street.

This is the second of two articles on construction innovations (click here for part one).

1/2/3 Chambers Street station flooring

The addition of new elevators at the 1/2/3 Chambers Street subway station was an opportunity for New York City Transit to pilot another notable change: new flooring. Made from an industrial-grade resin called “AcryliCon,” the flooring was installed early in 2009 as a test for what could some day be the station-wide standard for its durability, cost, and longevity.

The material was developed in Norway as flooring for seaside fisheries that must withstand frigid temperatures and daily saltwater washes. The resin-based product was made to coat and seal the floor with an anti-slip surface. The first fishery to use AcryliCon still has the same original floor, now 30 years later -- leading to its use in Oslo Metro stations, football stadiums from London to Cairo, and more locally, at the Parks Department’s Corona Park Natatorium.

The floors were installed at the 1-2-3 Chamber Street stop

At Tribeca’s 1/2/3 Chambers Street station, riders can check out the new multi-colored floor on the mezzanine and stair landings. MTA Chief Architect Judith Kunoff says that so far, the bright colors and non-slip texture have been a hit with riders and system planners.

“It’s comparable in cost to tile, and even cheaper if the existing concrete base is in reasonably good shape,” she says. As for function, “the various pilot locations have done wonderfully.”

However, AcryliCon has yet to be installed on a train platform. Before that can happen, Kunoff says, logistics must be ironed out, including the “tent and vent” system over installation areas, since the resin has a strong (but non-toxic) odor. One major advantage is that the material sets in two hours.

“The challenge for us is that we are a 24/7 system,” says Kunoff. “With tiles, we know our installation productivity over a weekend service suspension, but this flooring is unproven in that regard.”

Kunoff says the Bleecker Street and 96th Street stations are potential future sites, though the MTA is still considering the flooring’s full “life-cycle costs,” including initial installation, regular maintenance, and repairs over a 30-year life cycle. Her team is also considering testing it on an outdoor platform, which could improve the overall lifespan of the concrete base.

Local firm’s biodiesel and “green” concrete

The fleet now operates on clean-burning biodiesel

Quadrozzi also has developed the city’s highest-strength and "greenest "pour-in-place concrete. The proprietary mixture reduces the need for new cement, which is the key ingredient of concrete and one of the most energy-intensive construction materials to produce. The mix, called "Quadro-Crete," incorporates recycled industrial waste byproducts such as slag (from steel mills), flyash (from energy plants), and silica fume (from production of superconductors), cutting its cement factor by more than 50 percent while achieving some of the highest strengths in the industry. 

The greener concrete, now being used to erect 1 World Trade Center and Beekman Tower, is among the most advanced in the world -- meeting design criteria previously considered impossible. The company’s environmental initiatives continued in 2009 by trading in its passenger vehicles for biodiesel-fueled cars. It also is now designing a new manufacturing plant that will reduce carbon emissions, use geothermal energy to maintain concrete temperatures, and further reduce cement demand.

The LMCCC’s Interactive Project Map

As part of its charge to mitigate and facilitate more than $20 billion 

The mapping function allows for more information to be relayed to the site user

The proprietary map is regenerated weekly based on ever-changing data culled from daily LMCCC coordination meetings, city permits, field surveys, and logistics plans. In the four years since its inception, the map has become a valuable resource for both public and private project managers. It also serves as a traffic-planning tool for the city Department of Transportation and NYPD traffic command office, as well as for the LMCCC’s permit-enforcement taskforce.

“The project map has become a vital part of logistics forecasting,” said LMCCC Executive Director Robert Harvey. “We use it to prepare for major construction operations and review traffic impacts at any given time. It’s a way to look at the whole network of streets in Lower Manhattan to determine where and how we can safely manage pedestrian, private-car, and construction-vehicle traffic in our limited shared space.”

Map users can zoom in on any of dozens of downtown projects, selecting specific blocks and dates that will indicate road and sidewalk reductions or closures. The map is managed by the LMCCC’s City Operations unit, which forecasts other construction-logistics details like concrete demand, truck volumes and staging, and labor demands for projects from the World Trade Center to the various infrastructure operations.

Wall Street’s turntable barriers

Since 2003, a series of improvements to the New York Stock Exchange area have brought better lighting, wrought-iron fencing, outdoor café-style seating, “euro-cobble” paving, and bronze “no-gos” (bollards) to the car-free zone. The city Economic Development Corporation (EDC) introduced the changes with the help of Lower Manhattan Development Corporation funding, calling for creative designs to balance the high-traffic area with demands for more attractive security barriers on Wall and Broad Streets.

One of the most notable new components is a turntable-style vehicle barrier at the south end of Broad Street. The circular barrier fits between the curbs, and is set flush into the street, about 18 inches deep in the roadbed. Bollards cross its center, so when vehicles pass inspection to enter the secure zone, the turntable rotates 90 degrees shifting the bollard barricade so vehicles can pass.

The smart design of the turntable barriers come from Rogers Marvel Architects, which the EDC charged with replacing the strictly practical black Delta barriers (one of which is still at the Nassau/Pine intersection). The turntables are now in place at Wall and William, and Broad and Beaver Streets, and are also paved over with euro-cobble to keep the consistent look of the area.

7 World Trade Center’s energy efficiency

When it opened in May 2006, 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC) became New York’s first LEED-gold-certified office building -- and now is a trendsetter for new towers. Rated by the U.S. Green Building Council, 7 WTC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status proved that state-of-the-art construction includes pioneering technologies from groundbreaking through completion, and beyond.

The green features employed by developer Silverstein Properties was a result of collaboration between architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and partner agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

WTC 7 is NYC's first LEED-gold-certified tower

Together they devised ways to reduce 7 WTC’s water consumption by 30 percent; collect rainwater from the roof for irrigation of the nearby park and the cooling tower; and to improve air quality by completely avoiding ozone-depleting HCFC refrigerants.

From the beginning, the 52-story structure -- now 85 percent leased -- was erected with clean-construction standards, starting with ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and special filters to significantly reduce heavy-equipment emissions. Building materials included post-consumer recycled content, sustainably harvested wood, and paints low in volatile organic compounds.

Designers also found ways to conserve electricity thanks to its full-height, low-iron glass façade, which maximizes indoor daylight while limiting heat absorption, with the bonus of automatic daylight-dimming controls. Silverstein also reports that 100 percent of 7 WTC’s core-and-shell electricity needs come from renewable-energy sources, with electricity costs approximately 35 percent lower than in an average Manhattan office building.

Related Links