Demolition of the deteriorated slab segments during the garage repair project at 75 Henry Street.
The Brooklyn cooperative at 75 Henry Street, a 32-story, 356-unit building sits atop of a three-level underground garage comprised of 546 parking spaces. Its garage had compromised concrete which led to leaks and falling pieces of concrete and dust. As a temporary solution, the board at 75 Henry Street set up tarps to protect susceptible cars who were exposed to possible damage, but knew it was time for a more extensive fix.
Shoring posts installed directly below the work area. The beams need to be shored in place in order to demolish the slab for replacement.
In 2019, RAND was hired to conduct a survey of the entire garage. Based on our findings, we developed the scope of work, which included concrete waffle slab ceiling repairs and a new coating system, and projected a budget of $1.27 million for the repair project.
The project began in early 2020, but as with the rest of the world, the coronavirus pandemic put a halt on the project. With a such large scale scope, it is imperative to have good open communication with all team members: the board, engineers, contractors, and shareholders. Throughout the construction shutdown, we, property manager David Grillo of Gumley Haft and the building's board were careful to maintain communication with all involved. Work resumed a year later on March 2021.
To minimize inconvenience to the residents, we split the project into eight phases in order to keep the garage operating during repairs; this allows us to take up only about 1/8th of garage space at a time. Each phase will take approximately four to six weeks to complete with phase 1 demolition already completed as of April. The garage will be under construction for approximately 10 months.
For more on the project, read article "Brooklyn Heights Co-op Cuts No Corners on Garage Repairs," where it was recently featured in Habitat Magazine.
Jason Damiano, PE is a Project Engineer for the Structural Team at RAND.
