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New subway station signals rebirth in lower Manhattan
Today, this block of lower Manhattan real estate is known by those who work there
as The Hole.
It has had other names. It was long known as the site of the Twin Towers. Then,
tragically, unforgettably, the world suddenly came to know it as Ground Zero.
But workers at the site now call it The Hole because that’s what it is, about 80 feet
deep and more than 200 yards wide in spots. It is mostly empty now, clear of debris.
On the eastern side, however, new steel rises from its base almost to street level. Under
construction is a subway station for an underground light rail system that will carry
commuters to lower Manhattan from New Jersey, just as it had before September 11.
The site buzzes with activity like any other major jobsite, and there appears to be a
clear sense of purpose among those working on the station, despite the fact that plans
for what will occupy the space above it are still in the hands of architects.
PROJECT SUMMARY
- Shop finishing 1,400 tons of structural steel for a subway station at the former site of the World Trade Center
- Mandate for construction to begin before the first anniversary of September 11 put project on a fast pace
PRODUCTS IN USE
- Three-coat Sherwin-Williams system:
Zinc Clad IV primer; Macropoxy 646 intermediate coat; Corothane II topcoat
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Perhaps the level of activity is a residual effect. Last year the Port Authority, the
local governmental agency that oversees transportation matters, ambitiously mandated
that steel erection for the station begin on the site before the first anniversary of
September 11.
To the world, the message intended by fast-tracking this project to such a degree was
clear: we will rebuild, we will recover. To contractors, the plan sent an additional message:
you could be required to produce faster than you ever have before.
PATH EXPERIENCE
Prior to bidding on this project, Bridgewater Protective Coatings (BPC) of
Bridgewater, N.J., had had some experience with the Port Authority. In 2001, the firm
won a bid to finish some steel canopies and structural steel for the Hoboken, N.J., train
station, coincidentally a stop on the PATH train line that had served the World Trade
Center. When the topcoat of a three-coat system originally specified for the project
failed to cure properly, BPC Project Manager Wayne Chilewski suggested a switch to a
Sherwin-Williams system. The Port Authority quickly approved the new spec and BPC
was shipping steel to Hoboken before the end of the day.
With that experience in hand as well as 20 years of experience as a specialty coatings
contractor, BPC president Jack Scholz bid on the World Trade Center PATH station
project in May 2002. BPC won the bid, and
the company readied itself to meet the specification
selected by the Port Authority — a
three-coat Sherwin-Williams system to include
a prime coat of Zinc Clad IV at 3-5 mils dft,
an intermediate coat of MacroPoxy 646
FastCure at 5-10 mils dft, and a topcoat of
Corothane II Satin at 3-4 mils dft, all shop
applied. But other details on the project weren’t
finalized until mid-August, and the September
11 deadline suddenly loomed large.
“We originally bid this as a 15-week project,
but as the schedule became set and it
became clear we’d have to move far more
quickly than we had intended, there was a
question as to whether or not we could handle
it,” says Chilewski. “The Port Authority
audited our facility to see if we could.”
CONTRACTOR SPOTLIGHT
BPC Broadens Services
A 100,000-lb. outdoor crane and a 60,000-square-foot environmentally
controlled work area at the 12-acre Bridgewater
Protective Coatings facility are testament that painting structural
steel will remain at the heart of the firm’s services.
But the company continues to diversify, according to
Project Manager Wayne Chilewski.
“At various times we’ve been arguably the largest player
in the country with regard to rubber linings,” says Chilewski.
“That capability remains a strength of this company.”
BPC is also currently at work on a bridge resurfacing project,
applying a 3/8-inch-thick aggregate-filled epoxy overlay
to 250,000 square feet of bridge decking for the American
Bridge Company. Also high on the job shop’s priority list is
work for Alstom, a major power generator producer, and
working a range of steel-coating tasks for Canron
Construction Corp.
“These clients know we’re going to turn out a quality
product,” says Chilewski. “That’s how we’ve made a niche in
this business.”
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NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
Chilewski and Scholz passed the Port
Authority’s audition, but this project would
not be business as usual. For starters, Port
Authority mandated that one of their inspectors
be on the premises full-time. Additionally,
BPC added 15 people in painting and support
roles to its normal full-time payroll of 35.
BPC had never run more than one shift since Scholz
started the company in 1987, but it was now obvious
they’d have to run round the clock on this project.
Chilewski and Scholz scheduled sandblasters to work two
12-hour shifts. Painters worked 12-hour shifts as well, but
these shifts were staggered to take advantage of the quick
recoat and cure times of the coatings.
“The first crew would prime, and the second crew
would come in three hours later because they could immediately
recoat the prime coat,” says Chilewski. “When the
intermediate coat cured three hours later, that’s when the
third crew would start. Three hours after they applied the
topcoat, the steel would have to be cured enough to load
onto a truck because the erection crews at the jobsite were
going to put the steel up as fast as we got it to them.
“The recoat and cure times of these products would
prove to be very critical to our success on this project.”
Timing would be critical indeed, given that the first load
of steel, being fabricated by Canron Construction in
Conklin, N.Y., did not arrive until August 23, less than three
weeks before the mandated start of on-site erection.
Truckloads of unfinished steel, ranging from 56-foot
beams to 10-inch flanges and angle braces, were suddenly
arriving at a steady pace. The first finished pieces left BPC
on August 26, giving erection crews sufficient time to successfully
weld new steel into place before September 11.
Once that goal was met, the BPC shop continued to keep
up the pace. Soon they were cycling out finished steel,
from trailer off-load to reload, in as little as a day’s time.
“It was our responsibility to keep the erectors supplied
with finished steel,” says Chilewski. “That eventually
became a condition of the contract.”
Eight weeks and 75 truckloads later, BPC’s role in the
project was complete.
BPC is back to being a one-shift shop for now. Scholz
and Chilewski await word on whether they’ve won the bid
to perform work on the second phase of the PATH station
project, which will involve the shop coating of 600
tons of steel as the station moves toward its goal of being
operational by June, 2003.
By that time, BPC will have played a small but important
role in giving The Hole a new identity.
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