As a subconsultant, SI Engineering, P.C. (SIE) provided condition survey services for the condition field survey and inspection of 171 stations throughout all five (5) boroughs of New York City along with other tasks. Specific tasks on this project included reviewing / revising the existing NYCT Station Inspection Manual (by SIE), a 3-day presentation of the manual update to all field teams along with MTA-NYCT personnel by SIE, a comprehensive visual inspection at each of the 171 stations which included all public, restricted, and track areas of the station. Elements inspected included stairs, mezzanines, platforms, ventilators, storage rooms, employee facilities, and equipment areas, among others. The efforts included coordination with MTA to access the vents’ interiors. The condition survey covered assessment of both exterior (gratings, frames, and exterior concrete) and interior elements (drip pans, walls, and beams) of the vents. For elevated stations, the visual inspection also included platform girders, which were visually inspected using binoculars from the track and street levels, paying special attention to bearing areas where they frame into the transverse girder, as well as top flanges on both sides. Priority actions were issued for critical issues posing immediate danger to trains or the public.
If SIE suspected significant structural deterioration in an area that could not be inspected adequately during the visual survey (e.g., mezzanine hangers, steel under platforms, canopy columns, expansion joints, out-of-plum walls and columns), SIE inspectors identified that component to recommend more thorough investigation. SIE captured the “density of defect” for ceilings, floors, platform edges, columns and other components / subcomponents where conditions are worse in some portions than in others within our field inspection and notes. Our teams also recorded basic information on the material or type of certain components or subcomponents surveyed. The survey was summarized in a survey report including a component rating summary, photographs, drawings of stations with locations of photographs, and subcomponent inspection reports. Once the 171 stations were completed, 30 stations with elements that were in need of rehabilitation to bring them up to a State of Good Repair were identified and included in a Project Requirements and Design (PRDC) Package.
