Overnight BQE jackhammering to (finally) start Friday

Here are the detours around the Triple Cantilever

August 14, 2023 Mary Frost

Long-delayed overnight work is finally set to kick off on the Queens-bound lanes of the BQE in the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 18. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Long-delayed overnight jackhammering on the Triple Cantilever section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is set to kick off in the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 18, from 1 – 5 a.m., according to NYC Department of Transportation’s Community Liaison Anita Navalurkar.

During the drilling, one lane of the BQE will be closed on the Queens-bound side between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street.

Even though one lane will be open, the entrance ramp to the Queens-bound BQE at Atlantic Avenue will be closed during the work.

NYCDOT has provided maps showing detours to the two closest alternate Queens-bound BQE entrance ramps — one leading to the Tillary Street entrance ramp, and one to the Sands Street entrance.

Detour to the Tillary Street BQE entrance ramp, Queens-bound. Map courtesy of NYCDOT

The purpose of the overnight jackhammering is to remove about six inches of deteriorated asphalt and concrete in order to prepare the roadbed for the installation of reinforcing steel bars and new concrete, which will take place over three weekends following this preparatory work.

Workers will begin drilling out the asphalt on Friday. Concrete removal is anticipated to begin on Tuesday, August 22.

These interim repairs are designed to shore up the 70-year-old Triple Cantilever underpinning the historic Brooklyn Heights Promenade until the city and state settle on a full redesign — a massive, yearslong project.

In addition to construction on the Queens-bound lanes of the Triple Cantilever, work is being done on the foundation of the Joralemon Street Garage inside the base of the BQE overpass. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

Sound tents and jackhammer mufflers

The scope of the interim work includes concrete and rebar repairs of the deck, column and beams in the Clark Street Fan Plant area (Span 34) and on the BQE deck at Grace Court (Span 4). Repairs in a third area, on the foundation of the Joralemon Street Garage, will not cause excessive noise since it is being done inside the BQE structure.

Contractor Bove Industries will be making their best attempt to minimize the racket through the use of sound tents and jackhammer mufflers, Tanvi Pandya, executive director of BQE, Design Build & Emergency Contracts at NYCDOT, said at a virtual workshop held June 29.

NYCDOT had hoped to wrap up the overnight drilling and get to the weekend closures over the summer months. The start of the work was delayed, however, because “it took longer to get the contractor,” Pandya said in June. “Everything about the nature of construction is not exact … so we will request patience if we are not able to give the exact answer right at the start,” she cautioned.

The BQE interim work includes concrete and rebar repairs of the deck, column and beams in the Clark Street Fan Plant area (Span 34), on the BQE deck at Grace Court (Span 4) and on the foundation of the Joralemon Street Garage. Graphic courtesy of NYC DOT

The work was subsequently delayed again several times, having been scheduled to start on July 24 — and then held up until July 31 — and now set for Aug. 18. These delays were due to Bove having supply-chain issues in obtaining the steel plates needed to cover the roadway, Community Liaison Navalurkar said in an email.

Because of the delays, the planned weekend closures of this section of the BQE will likely extend into the late fall, or possibly next spring.