Avalon Riverview

Cost: $71.5 million

Development Team

Owner: Avalon Riverview II, NYC
Construction Manager: Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc., NYC
Architects: Perkins Eastman Architects
Structural Engineer: Rosenwasser/Grossman Consulting Engineers, NYC
MEP Engineer: Rbt Ettinger Associates
Civil Engineer: Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, NYC
Plumbing Contractor: MAlmar Plumbing & Heating, South Ozone Park, N.Y.
HVAC Contractor: Heritage Air Systems, Deer Park, N.Y.
Electrical Contractor: S.J. Electric Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Concrete Contractor: Sorbara Construction Corp., Lynbrook, NY

With last year's completion of Avalon Riverview, the Queens waterfront revitalization has officially begun. The $71.5 million, 32-story, 465,000-sq.-ft. apartment tower is the first of three luxury rental buildings being planned by Avalon Bay Communities at Queens West.

The No. 7 train, which runs under the entire site, presented construction manager Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. with its biggest challenge. Concrete girders were built over the subway tunnel to protect it from the load of the new building. The girders spanned 72 ft. and varied from 6 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep to 12 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep. Using approximately 450 tons of steel and 2,100 cu. yds. of concrete, they support the 130-car parking garage and, at the fringes, portions of the building's two high-rise towers. Columns in the high-rises were strategically located to avoid larger loads from impacting on the shallow girders. To monitor the impact of construction on the subway, Bovis used 24 seismographs, 15 video cameras and 12 crack gauges. Cameras placed in the tunnel let the construction crew know when a train was approaching. No piles could be seated on rock when a train was passing or stopping at the station. Most of the piles were seated on the weekends when the trains ran less frequently. The work was completed in 15 months, three months ahead of schedule.