Second Avenue Subway, 72nd Street Station Fit-out, and Finishes

OHLA USA’s subsidiary, Judlau Contracting, Inc., completed the finishes and fit-out of the structural shell for 72^nd Street Station, which was a part of MTA’s ongoing Second Avenue Subway program. The $352 million contract constructed three entrances, an entire platform with access to two tracks, 11 escalators, and seven ADA-compliant elevators – five of which are at street level, moving passengers to the station platform and mezzanine levels. Work inside the structural shell included the platform and the mezzanine deck, built above the platform to provide the necessary floor space for the Station. The mezzanine deck is 16 feet high, spans 64 feet across the cavern, and extends nearly 1000 feet, adding approximately 64,000 square feet of floor space to the structure. In total, the entire mezzanine deck required 20 concrete pours, totaling over 1.3 million pounds of rebar, 70,000 square feet of plywood formwork, and 3,600 cubic yards of concrete.

Work included the installation of a Tunnel Station, Smoke Management system, and two HVAC chiller room plants to provide air conditioning to the Station’s platform, mezzanines, and back-of-house rooms. The crews constructed four facility power rooms, supplied via 13.2kV ConEdison feeders connected to transformers, and completed gas, water main, and sewer connections. All Second Avenue stations have implemented the Building Management System (BMS) that uses Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) to integrate multiple systems and share data. The system integration at the 72nd Station was complex, requiring coordination with the MTA and a testing period to ensure correct system interfacing.

The Second Avenue Subway, Phase I project was recognized with an Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was a New York Transit Museum Honoree.