Engineering Services

The Town of Hamburg retained UrbanNY to investigate the subsurface conditions adjacent to the Clock Tower, evaluate the damage from past storm events, and determine adequate remediation efforts to address the current situation and provide a design that can withstand the strong storm events that Lake Erie produces.

The clock tower and concrete walkways behind an existing concrete retaining wall along the east shore of Lake Erie were constructed for the public’s enjoyment. However, a portion of the property immediately adjacent to the site is not protected by a retaining wall, and recent storm events have caused erosion and significant undermining of the concrete walkway and surrounding asphalt parking lot.

Work included soil borings to determine the soil conditions and depth of bedrock and topographical and boundary surveys to determine the property lines and ownership of the adjacent parcels.  A new steel “H” pile sea wall with concrete panels was designed to stabilize the shoreline and protect the existing clock tower from future storm damage. A new observation platform was also designed with amenities like park benches and lighted bollards.  The adjacent parking lot was repaved and striped.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has undertaken the historic $19 billion transformation of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) into a world-class airport. The program includes the construction of a New Terminal One (NTO), a 23-gate all-international terminal and the largest terminal at JFK. The 2.4 million-square-foot terminal features expansive, naturally lit public spaces, cutting-edge technology, and a range of amenities designed to enhance the customer experience.

The design and Construction of NTO includes reconstructing the roadway entrances into the airport, as well as providing a new multi-level roadway entrance for arriving and departing passengers into the new terminal. The existing terminal will consist of a headhouse, including check-in, security checkpoints, baggage claim, and mechanical infrastructure, for the full build-out of the new facility. The project includes reconfiguration of the roadways and all utilities. Stormwater, sanitary sewer, water, medium-temperature hot water, chilled water, telecommunications ducts, and electrical ducts and services will be realigned in the interim and final phases of construction for the new terminal.

UrbanNY provided interim and final design for sanitary sewer, medium-temperature hot water, chilled water, domestic water, natural gas, as well as 3D modeling in Civil 3D and Navisworks, to coordinate with the Revit building and site/stormwater models. UrbanNY assisted with the 3D modeling of all landslide utilities, including stormwater, electric, and communications, for this project. UrbanNY also provided construction administration and management services, which included weekly coordination with the design-builder  and other stakeholders, responding to RFI’s, submittals, and shop drawings, and providing redesigns, as necessary, based on contractor phasing.

Under an on-call contract with the NYC Department of Design and Construction (NYC DDC), UrbanNY provided design services for the $15M reconstruction of Henwood Place Step Street in The Bronx. A step street is a thoroughfare fitted with steps for pedestrian traffic rather than paved or tracked for motor vehicles. It is a practical way of providing access up and down a slope that is too steep for automobiles to navigate. In New York City, there are more than 100 steps across the city’s five boroughs. UrbanNY partnered with Nancy Owens Studio Landscape Architecture + Urban Design PLLC as the Landscape Architect for this 64-step project.

The Henwood Place Step Street project reconfigures the site’s staircases and landings, increasing its visibility as a step street and improving the pedestrian experience. The Henwood Place Step Street project is particularly important as it will provide ADA accessibility to a challenging project site for this neighborhood in The Bronx.

Urban is responsible for preliminary and final design, including a sustainability analysis through the Envision certification process. Services include project development, surveys, existing condition studies, research, and an Envision sustainability work plan. Urban provided three schematic designs to the NYCDOT and the community. The preliminary and final designs consist of retaining walls, drainage, street lighting, landscape, construction staging, maintenance of traffic, and estimates of quantities and costs. The final design will enhance the community and quality of life by providing attractive gathering points, improving accessibility, providing ADA access, increasing length line-of-site and lighting for security and decreasing stormwater runoff with natural landscaping.

Urban provided comprehensive design and analysis services for implementing a new ferry arrestor system at the Staten Island Ferry System’s St. George’s and Whitehall Terminals. The $20 million arrestor system provided full passive restraint if a ferry loses control of its approach to the terminal, minimizing potential harm to existing structures, vessels, and passengers.

To avoid long-term maintenance and testing concerns, the arrestor system employs permanent energy-absorbing elements that can fully restrain the ferry without interfering with daily operations. This required the design team to overcome two conflicting challenges: designing a system that is massive enough to absorb the substantial impact energy in the limited space available, while also staying free from the footprint of daily ferry traffic.

The project team carefully analyzed prevailing conditions, ferry control failures, and site geometries to achieve these goals to develop appropriate design criteria and concepts. After model testing of the preliminary design concept, the final design was supported by geotechnical investigations and corrosion protection analyses to provide a robust, functional design to improve the safety of the ferry system. The design is a pre-fabricated system that can be placed directly in the path of the ferry, rather than along the curving vessel profile. Such a system minimized field construction time and disruption to the ferry schedule and optimized energy absorption potential, thereby reducing the costs of steel foundations and rubber fenders.

The $4 billion Delta Airfield Reconfiguration Program at LaGuardia Airport will provide a new 37-gate terminal, dual taxiways to reduce taxi time, larger gate areas with enhanced concessions, and more efficient airport roadways. Urban Engineers is the prime consultant providing construction management and inspection services for design-build parking garages, elevated roadways, utility infrastructure improvements, airfield modifications, demolition, and new terminal construction. We are coordinating construction activities with facility operations, monitoring permit compliance, and providing contract administration services.

The terminal will house four concourses connected by a centralized and streamlined check-in lobby, security checkpoint, and baggage claim. A new Delta Sky Club offering a deck with airfield views and other unique amenities will complement the terminal. Larger gate and seating areas as well as 30% more concessions is a dramatic improvement from existing facilities. The design integrates sustainable technologies and energy efficient features. The concourse housing gates 92 through 98 features floor-to-ceiling views of Citi Field and Flushing Bay

Construction of the steel frame for Delta’s new arrivals and departure terminal was completed in July 2020 and construction of the exterior curtain wall is currently underway.

Terminal construction is progressing 18 months ahead of schedule. Urban’s constructability review of maintenance and protection of traffic plans provided valuable recommendations that enabled the redesigned road network leading to the terminals to open six months ahead of schedule.

Urban is overseeing use of BIM for construction coordination, coordinating construction activities with facility operations, monitoring permit compliance, and performing contract administration services.

UrbanNY was selected by the City of Niagara Falls as the Prime consultant for this $3.2 million Federal Aid Locally Administered Project. Urban is providing design services for Design Phases I – VI. The project proposes to reconstruct approximately ½ mile of North Military Road in a dense urban residential area of Niagara Falls. Also included is the Mill and Overlay of approximately a 1-mile segment of Cayuga Drive. This section of Military Road is a two-lane asphalt roadway with granite curbs and a closed drainage system. The roadway surface is constantly being repaired (overlaid) due to a lack of proper base, sub-base, and drainage, and there is no curbing and a lack of sidewalks on the east side of the street. The roadway shows cracking, potholes, and utility repair restorations throughout, and the lack of proper pavement markings at the school crossing was dangerous.

UrbanNY designed a project that would correct the roadway’s integrity, improving the road’s structural and wearing surface to a condition rating of 10 for at least 15 years. Urban provided safer pedestrian (ADA crosswalks) and bicycle movement throughout the project length, including minor margin/sidewalk improvements. The project included new curbing and closed drainage to help extend the roadway’s life and eliminate stormwater ponding along the project length. Urban also coordinated with the Niagara Falls Water Board for water main replacement (betterment) to be included in this project.

Urban’s tasks involved preparing the design approval document (PSR/FDR), preliminary and final design plans, and specifications. The final plans, specifications, and engineer estimate were completed, and the project was submitted to construction bids in June 2023. Construction was completed in the fall of 2024, with Urban providing CM/CI services during construction.

In the event of storms or high tides, Canarsie’s Fresh Creek, an inlet of Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, dumps water into the adjacent neighborhood’s storm sewer system, resulting in flooding and overflowing from the creek itself. To address the flooding into the shoreline sewer system, the Dormitory Authority State of New York (DASNY) and the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery selected the joint venture of UrbanNY and KS Engineers to restore the storm sewer system draining into Fresh Creek by constructing tide gates over five storm sewers along 108th Street and reconstructing the Avenue M outfall.

The $14 million project installed new tide gate chambers within culverts flowing to Fresh Creek at Avenue K, Avenue L, Avenue M, Avenue N, and Seaview Avenue. The gates, or “flappers,” protect the exit point from the sewage pipelines into the creek. This helps prevent creek water from backflowing through culverts and allows the existing drainage system to function more efficiently. This important project helped the community adapt to the effects of climate change by reducing flooding during future storms and sea-level rise, and assisted the area in recovering more quickly during future storm events.

UrbanNY reviewed studies, policies, and assessments performed by city and state agencies and identified areas with the highest risk of climate change-related flooding, based on the rainfall events, storm surges, and sea level rises determined to be the most probable by the NYCDEP and GOSR. UrbanNY used science-based mapping of rainfall events, storm surges, and sea level rise projections to determine the design criteria for the coastal protection elements. Engineering solutions incorporated low-level barriers and green infrastructure. Other services included identifying living shoreline strategies for coastal protection, flood mitigation, and improved rainwater management. Hydrological models were used to test the effects of proposed solutions on drainage systems.

The Fresh Creek Coastal Protection Project was honored with a Gold Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York’s 2023 Engineering Excellence Awards program. The project was recognized in the waste and stormwater category at the organization’s 56th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala.

UrbanNY provided survey, inspection, and design services to develop a comprehensive flood protection system that maintained access and sight lines critical to the Staten Island Ferry terminal operations. The need to keep open traffic lanes and sight lines to the bridge of each ferry precluded the use of a contiguous permanent flood wall. After thorough surveys and discussions with terminal personnel, the design team implemented a combination of permanent, semi-transparent, semi-deployable, and fully deployable flood walls to protect the terminals. UrbanNY-developed flood design criteria were based on a statistical risk analysis of wave heights, and these criteria were used to design structural and foundation details for the different wall types.

Early concept designs revealed that meeting all the design criteria with traditional permanent flood walls would lead to large, expensive walls that could interfere with terminal operations. Early in the project, Urban developed hybrid concepts so that the NYCDOT could approve modified design criteria to reduce costs and footprint without impacting the project schedule. The project cost was $50 million.

UrbanNY’s engineering staff analyzed and summarized resilience concepts into bridging documents for the design-build procurement. The design criteria were established to protect the Staten Island Ferry from improper substitutions that might erode the quality of the work. Construction quality is always a primary objective of Staten Island Ferry Terminal projects.

The Erie County Department of Public Works retained Urban Engineers to perform design services for Design Phases I–VI to rehabilitate Culvert 127-5 in Hamburg, NY, and replace Culvert 228-13 in Concord, NY. The 6 ft. x 5 ft. concrete box culvert in Hamburg was relined with a metal pipe grouted in place. In contrast, the culvert in Concord, a deteriorated 6 ft. x 4 ft. concrete box, was replaced with a new 6 ft. x 6 ft. precast concrete box culvert and Redi-Rock precast modular wingwalls. Slope protection and bank protection were designed, as well as erosion control, work zone traffic control, all environmental elements, ROW acquisition, and permits required. The project’s construction was completed in the fall of 2021, and Urban provided CM/CI services.