Con Ed short circuits Hudson Park work

Work removing the Pier 25 decks, which recently began, was stopped this week after Con Edison asked the Hudson River Park Trust to change construction methods to better protect the utility’s equipment.

By David Spett

Hudson River Park work on Pier 25 has been temporarily suspended due to design changes required by Con Edison, according to the Hudson River Park Trust’s spokesperson.

The Con Edison requirements affect only the pier’s piles, but for efficiency reasons contractors stopped work on Pier 25 and diverted efforts to Pier 26, said Noreen Doyle, a Trust vice president. Because both Tribeca piers will open at the same time, the overall project is still on schedule, with opening scheduled for summer of 2009, Doyle said.

Con Ed has equipment near the pile work and with its hands full lately with the recent power outage in Queens and this week’s heat wave and blackout warnings, the utility is apparently being cautious. A Con Ed spokesperson did not return a call for comment.

“We have a good relationship with Con Ed,” Doyle said, “and they have agreed to reimburse the Trust for all of the required changes that are reasonable.”

Specifically, Con Edison is requiring constructors to use a gentler, more cautious method of driving piles on the piers, Doyle said. “There is a pile-driving machine that bangs piles, and in this case we’re taking a more cautious approach,” she said. “Con Ed relatively recently changed their requirements for what they would need in terms of design.”

Explaining the decision by the contractor to stop work on Pier 25 and focus efforts on removing the Pier 26 deck, Doyle said, “We generally leave it to some degree to our contractors and construction managers to tell us the best way to get the work product done within a given schedule.”

While some approvals for Pier 25 took longer than the Trust anticipated, Doyle said delays are to be expected.

“Work in the water is not as routine as when there is Con Ed work in the middle of the city,” she said. “People [like Con Edison] have to spend time thinking about what would be the best way to protect their infrastructure. The coordination is particularly technical.”

Doyle said that in the coming months and through the winter, contractors may focus their efforts on the northern end of the Tribeca section.

“There is definitely productive work that can happen over the next six months while we wait to do the next big pile,” she said.

“We are not disheartened that this is going to affect the overall schedule, and there’s nothing adversarial going on here,” Doyle said.

Piers 25 and 26 are part of Hudson River Park’s Segment 3, which extends from Chambers St. to Clarkson St. and is scheduled to be complete in 2009. The project had been delayed for years, but at the official groundbreaking on July 6 Governor George Pataki said there would be no more delays. The $70 million project is funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.