McLaren Engineering completes New NYC Ferry Landings

New York –– New ferry landings opened on the NYC Ferry South Brooklyn Route in Bay Ridge, Atlantic Basin, and Brooklyn Bridge Park (Pier 6), in New York Harbor. The NYC Ferry landings were designed by McLaren Engineering Group as part of New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC) NYC Ferry Service which launched in May 2017. The landings, estimated at $55 million, are integral to the new NYC Ferry service that will connect New Yorkers to hundreds of miles of the City’s waterfront — creating an affordable, efficient way to link city residents and commuters by water.

McLaren is providing engineering consulting services on the development and design of 11 new and several upgraded NYC Ferry landings. The scope of the firm’s work includes design, planning, coordination, permitting, procurement and construction administration.

McLaren’s marine structural engineering team has been designing and implementing floating ferry landing concepts since the mid 1980s. The typical design contains a barge on the waterway that rises and falls with the tides, and can accommodate multiple vessels of varying freeboards. Designed to be compliant with Local Law 68 (passenger accessibility), the barges can easily be maintained, while ensuring structural resiliency.

“McLaren is honored to be part of this monumental project,” says Malcolm G. McLaren, president and CEO, McLaren Engineering Group. “We helped develop the floating landing concept in New York harbor and have been for improving on it for more than 30 years. Our extensive experience prepared us to quickly design landings that link the city’s boroughs in a safe and efficient manner.”

Key services McLaren provided on the design of the NYC Ferry landings include fendering and vessel impact design, accessibility design, canopy, gates and railings, windscreens, navigational piles, and the upland gateways with power and wayfinding.

Additionally, in support, McLaren performed the surveying, inspections, geotechnical investigations, and permit submissions for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the NYC Department of Small Business Services, the Public Design Commission, and City Parks.

“After studying the proposed landing sites to ensure the locations were viable, we implemented our fast track designs, which we have refined over the last 30 years. We then determined how to get the riders safely onboard, power to the site, and how to minimize the impact of the landings on the surrounding neighborhood,” says Shea Thorvaldsen, marine division manager, McLaren Engineering Group.

“To create a viable low-profile landing, with protection from the environment was a challenge. The canopy and windscreens are always seen as a visual impediment to the environment, and the budgets were tight. In the end, the city now has landings that are accessible, safe, and easily maintained, as well as aesthetically pleasing with the surrounding environment,” says Thorvaldsen.

From Raritan Bay, NJ, to Newburgh, NY, McLaren has engineered more than 60 ferry transportation facilities in the Northeast. These include some of the largest ferry terminals in the world, including the Battery Park Ferry Terminal (operated by PANYNJ) at the World Financial Center, the restoration of the Hoboken (Lackawanna) Ferry Terminal, and the Port Imperial terminal in Weehawken, NJ.

“McLaren’s extensive experience improving the Northeast’s waterways was a tremendous asset on this project,” says Phil Grant of the NYCEDC. “They were able to fast track their designs and lead a team through complicated environmental permitting procedures to complete this project successfully.”