Underground Construction - April 2021 - 30

Trenchless Projects in the Borough of Queens
Minimizes Disruption
Maintaining the extensive sewer system
throughout the ﬁve boroughs of New York
City is a full-time endeavor. Public works
construction repairs create work zones
with signiﬁcant concerns for both the
general public and construction workers.
Traﬃc disruptions in major cities, like
New York City, are frequently met by the
public with anger, disgust and frustration.
In the New York Borough of Queens,
there are two recent projects where this
was of particular concern. Originally
designed and bid as open-cut installations,
these projects addressed ﬂood mitigation
and sewer improvements.
To maintain public safety and
convenience, as well as essential
worker safety, Northeast Remsco
Construction, of Wall Township, N.J.,
chose to value engineer these crossing
projects to trenchless methods including
microtunneling and sliplining.
During the summer of 2020, one
of New York City's major capital
improvement projects required Northeast
Remsco to install an 85-inch-diameter
storm sewer below Queens Boulevard at
69th Street.
This project location is where Queens
Blvd. is eight-lanes wide and includes
three pedestrian medians and two bike
lanes - the widest and busiest street
requiring open-cut crossings - colloquially
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APRIL 2021 | UCONonline.com

referred to as the " Boulevard of Death. "
With the change to microtunneling
technology, motorists and pedestrians
remained unaware of the massive 85-inch
pipe being installed 30 feet below them.
Hobas pipe was chosen for this project
due to the lightweight sections that are
easy to handle and maneuver in the tight
streets and under the LIRR overpass.
The easy-to-assemble ends simpliﬁed the
installation procedure for ﬁeld personnel.
NYC approved this installation for the
same safety reasons plus the beneﬁts
of an extended service life and low
maintenance costs.

Microtunnel
Northeast Remsco bore the tunnel
with a laser guided hydraulic tunnel
boring machine (TBM), followed by
250 feet of 10-foot sections of 85-inchdiameter CCFRPM jacking pipe advanced
by a jacking frame. This trenchless
construction method, which eliminated
the need for extensive excavation
and follow-up street reconstruction,
accomplished this phase in one week,
rather than the two-plus months
previously expected using open-cut.
A diﬀerent project in NYC's extensive
sewer and water rehabilitation
program took Northeast Remsco to
JFK International Airport in southern

Queens. For this project, to reinforce
a deteriorating sewer in the airport's
cargo area, the city learned that
trenchless sliplining would be much more
economical and far less disruptive to
street traﬃc and airport operations than
open-cut replacement.
Northeast Remsco utilized a hydraulic
jacking frame to slipline 42-inch CCFRPM
pipe within the deteriorating 48-inch
concrete sewer line in a single 1,300foot push under Nassau Expressway to a
connecting chamber near South Conduit
Avenue. The segmental pipe was easily
installed and able to handle the line's
approximate 10-million-gallons-per-day,
high-capacity ﬂow.
While sliplining an existing pipe
reduces its inner diameter, Hobas pipe's
smooth interior surface allows capacity
ﬂow to remain at the same levels or
even increase.
Northeast Remsco is the general
contractor for New York City's massive
ﬂooding alleviation program throughout
southeast Queens. The program is
managed by the NYC Department of
Design and Construction and funded by
the NYC Department of Environmental
Protection Bureau of Water and Sewer. *
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Hobas Pipe USA, (800) 856-7473,
(281) 821-2200, hobaspipe.com
http://www.hobaspipe.com http://www.UCONonline.com
Underground Construction - April 2021

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