Motorgate Parking Garage

Motorgate is a seven-story parking garage just off the bridge between Roosevelt Island and Queens. It was designed to limit vehicle traffic on the 2.5-mile-long island and has since grown to be the premier parking structure for the area.

Working with Engineer of Record Architecture & Engineering Group through a design assist scope, STRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGIES helped repair the structure from deteriorated concrete and leaks that occurred throughout the garage through cathodic protection. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) first encountered water making its way into the garage, which was greatly impacting pedestrian and vehicle traffic. In addition, most of the T-T joints weren’t stable, which is integral in making sure the garage is water-tight as a pre-cast T structure. Water, chlorides, and previous repairs that lacked sustainability caused the corrosion of reinforcements to accelerate and led to widespread corrosion and strengthening issues. Previously, RIOC initiated repairs as issues arose, but after seeing first-hand the success of our experience and projects, they knew that they needed to take a more proactive approach by utilizing our robust repair metrics, cathodic protection by Aluminum-Zinc-Indium (AZI) metalizing and CSS V-Wrap system.

The team partnered with STRUCTURAL, who acted as the general contractor on the project. STRUCTURAL handled the repair scope of work, including the repair effort of tee beams, deck overlay, steel angles, metalized cathodic protection, CFRP biscuits, corbels, and sealants. All traffic-bearing and pedestrian waterproofing were restored, along with expansion joints, drainage and pipes, epoxy, and façade concrete. A fully reinforced traffic-wearing system was installed in certain areas of the garage. This type of robust system is rarely used and greatly alleviates the structure from future water damage and corrosion.

The project was completed in an active garage, which was especially challenging as it serves as the only garage on the island. The team came up with a creative approach to maintaining the schedule and avoiding liquidated damage. Sequencing of work was used to ensure that the parking garage could still be used, and that construction could continue without delay.

With our team’s help, Motorgate utilized impactful last longer solutions to carry the structure into the future. Through a strong approach that leveraged both structural strengthening and corrosion control systems, the repair plan extended the service life of the structure by 20 years.