Project Update by Brian Lakin, PE, Assoc. DBIA, ENV SP
The Bay Park Conveyance Project, a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Nassau County Department of Public Works, will improve water quality and spur ecological recovery in Long Island’s Western Bays. McMillen Jacobs is the lead designer for the Western Bays Constructors JV design-build team, which includes John P. Picone, Inc. and Northeast Remsco Construction, Inc.
Installation of formwork at the bottom of Shaft BP-1 for ring wall installation.
The project includes engineering design services for 3.6 miles (5.8 km) of force main microtunnel and 7.2 miles (11.6 km) of force main effluent conveyance pipe rehabilitation via sliplining. This will enable Nassau County to convey up to 75 million gallons per day (284 million L/day) of treated effluent from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP), to be discharged via an existing ocean outfall.
The McMillen Jacobs-led design team, together with a specialty team of subconsultants, received Notice to Proceed on 29 separate design packages on March 4, 2021. Since that time, the team has completed nearly 80% of the total design for the project in 13 months. The project is being managed from McMillen Jacobs’ New York office, and the team has met the project’s aggressive design schedule from offices across North America. Significant portions of the team’s design work are being completed by collaborative groups across different time zones.
Construction is occurring in several distinct areas. At Bay Park, on the west end of the project, microtunnel shaft construction is complete and the first microtunnel drive is underway. The remaining microtunnel access shafts are in various stages of completion with work continuing. The support of excavation (SOE) methods that McMillen Jacobs designed for the project include secant piles and cutter soil mix (CSM) walls, depending on ground conditions at each of the 14 shaft sites. Additionally, work has begun on the foundation piles and initial structure to tie the new pump station into the existing infrastructure at the site.
Interior of MTBM “Marsh-Mellow.”
Work to begin sliplining in an existing conveyance pipe along Sunrise Highway is also underway. The project involves 23 access pits, several of which have been completed, along with utility relocations in some areas in preparation for rehabilitation and pipe installation activities to begin. The team is working closely with the many utility stakeholders, as well as the New York State Department of Transportation, to ensure that the work along Sunrise Highway is done in a safe and efficient manner to minimize impact to businesses, residents, and commuters who use the highway. Finally, design plans for the connection of the new pipeline to the existing outfall structure at Cedar Creek, on the east end of the project are nearly complete.
The design-build team continues to advance the fast-paced schedule, and steady progress is being made toward milestones. The Bay Park Conveyance Project is expected to be completed in 2024.