Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall Restoration

Cost: $90 million

Development Team

Owner: New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, Atlantic City
Construction Manager: Tishman Construction Corp. of New Jersey, Newark
Architect/Engineer: Ewing Cole Cherry Brott, Philadelphia
Historical Preservation Architect/Engineer: Watson & Henry Associates,
Bridgeton, N.J.
Sports Design Consultant: Rosser International, Atlanta
Design/Build Scaffolding: Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting Co., Bronx, N.Y.
Asbestos Abatement: Maztec Environmental Services, East Hanover, N.J.
Ceiling Reconstruction: Dick/Baumgardner Construction Co.,
Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Arena Bowl/Structural Steel/Precast Concrete/Concrete/Foundation: Dick/Baumgardner Construction Co., Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Special Event Center Fit-Out: Hall Construction, Well, N.J.
Ice Rink Slab Repair: Quinn Construction Inc., Folcroft, Pa.
Historic Preservation Contractor: Evergreene Paint Studios Inc., NYC

Far and away the largest restoration project completed last year in the New York metropolitan area was that of the 340,000-sq.-ft. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. When the hall opened in 1929, it was the largest clear-span space in the world – 456 ft. long and 310 ft. wide under a 137-ft.-high barrel-vault ceiling. The shell is made up of 10 pairs of three-hinged steel-arched box-trusses that support the roof, each truss 350 ft. long and weighing 220 tons.

For much of the 20th Century, the building offered 268,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, 20 conference rooms, two bathhouses and the largest proscenium stage in the country – 110 ft. wide, 85 ft. deep and 165 ft. between the wings. In 1940, it became the permanent home of the Miss America Pageant.

By the 1990s, much of the hall’s structural grandeur remained, but its technology and interior layout had become obsolete. In 1999, the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which now owns the hall, launched an extensive renovation project designed and engineered by the Philadelphia firm of Ewing Cole Cherry Brott, with construction management provided by Tishman Construction Corp. of New Jersey, which is headquartered in Newark. "First and foremost there was 4.5 acres of hazardous asbestos in the existing ceiling that had to be removed," said Don Dissinger, a principal with Ewing. "The ceiling is 137 ft. in the air, so access was a project in itself."

To work on the ceiling, Tishman created a rolling scaffolding system suspended from the roof trusses instead of using the typical floor-to-ceiling system. Workers moved along rails suspended from the trusses, allowing work to proceed on the floor and seating areas at the same time.

In spring 2001, workers discovered that brine leakage from the hall’s original ice rink’s refrigeration tubes had seriously corroded the top surface of the concrete slab and parts of its supporting steel structure. The removal of the upper 2 to 3 in. of the 6-in. slab was necessary, but the use of jackhammers is labor intensive, costly, creates high levels of dust and can shock the surrounding structure.

Ewing and Tishman decided, instead, to use hydro demolition technology, commonly used on roadway bridges but rarely inside buildings. It utilizes an automated, ultra-high-pressure water-jet system that allows for control of the depth of penetration, and while it creates cement slurry, it does not throw up dust.

Working around the clock to repair the 17,850-sq.-ft. slab, workers first removed 2 to 3 in. of existing concrete, replaced three corroded beams and welded 200 ft. of steel plating to the salvaged beams. They then welded 2,800 shear studs to the beams and installed reinforcing matting.

The process ended with pouring a new top for the slab, using the old one as the bottom form, to create a 6-in.-thick structural concrete composite slab. Another big piece of work was reinforcing the original span trusses with additional load capacity to accommodate about 130,000 lbs. of theatrical equipment, production lighting and sound systems.