PAV Master Plan Study

The Park Avenue Viaduct is an elevated railroad structure which carries four third rail powered tracks along Park Avenue from East 97th Street, then at East 110th transitions to a steel viaduct up to the Harlem River Lift Bridge. Approximately 750 trains carry hundreds of thousands of customers over the structure every day.

SJH provided an in-depth inspection of the elevated steel viaduct structure from 110th Street to the Harlem River Lift Bridge. The elevated steel framed structure in this section is 6,450 feet long and consists of 104 spans of various structural configurations along with 103 bents. The viaduct generally consists of a three-girder system with floorbeams. These girders and the cross girders at the bents are Fracture Critical Members. The inspections are scheduled for two consecutive years (in 2019 and 2020) and include reports. The inspections focus on all structural elements of the viaduct structure, the steel columns, girders, floorbeams, stringers, secondary members, the deck, and other miscellaneous elements. The track and third rail power elements are limited to a cursory inspection of their supporting structures. Most of the structure will be inspected with a 35-foot bucket truck and fiberglass ladders from the street level. Some sections will be inspected from roofs of existing buildings and such access is coordinated with specific building owners. The inspections comply with the requirements of AREMA MRE Chapter 15 Section 7.2 Inspection and the AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook, Volume 2. SJH completed and submitted the inspection reports. We are very familiar with ‘Railadvise’.