New York City Economic Development Corporation Water Siphon Replacement
Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, United States
Client: New York City Economic Development Corporation
Parsons Brinckerhoff Role: Construction Oversight and Resident Engineering
Parsons Brinckerhoff, in joint venture, is providing construction oversight and resident engineering services for the replacement of the existing water siphons between Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York. The impetus for removing the siphons is the dredging and deepening of the Anchorage Channel from its current depth of 45 feet (13.7 meters) to a depth of approximately 50 feet (15 meters). The channel is being deepened to allow it to accommodate increased cargo volumes and the larger, next-generation “Post-Panamax” vessels.
To enable the Anchorage Channel to be dredged, a new drinking water transmission main must first be installed beneath the Upper New York Bay between Brooklyn and Staten Island. The new main will replace the two existing siphons that provided Staten Island with a back-up water supply to its primary water source, the Richmond Tunnel. But while the existing siphons are at depths of 56 feet (17 meters) and 60 feet (18 meters), the new transmission main will be at a depth of 100 feet (30.4 meters).
Dredging and deepening of the Anchorage Channel, installation of the new drinking water transmission main and removal of the two existing siphons are part of a $250 million construction project funded by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and managed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.