Keller supported the construction of new crane pads and site utilities at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal revitalization by delivering expanded wellpoint dewatering and 24/7 temporary water treatment before discharge to Gowanus Bay. 

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal aerial

The project

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is being upgraded into a 73-acre staging and operations hub to support Equinor’s 810 MW Empire Wind offshore wind project located 15–30 miles off Long Island.  Keller was contracted to provide wellpoint dewatering for the crane pad and utility excavations, along with temporary water treatment of the discharge.

Differing site conditions required substantially more dewatering than originally anticipated, increasing the number of excavations and wellpoints on the planned work. The accelerated schedule demanded rapid scaling of crews and equipment while supporting excavations ranging from small utility pits to large infrastructure upgrades.

Keller expanded the wellpoint program from the original plan of 772 wellpoints for 39 excavations to a total of 1,504 wellpoints to dewater 84 excavations, installing 8,670 ft of 6-inch and 8-inch vacuum header and scaling resources to 17 wellpoint pumps and three drill-rig crews at peak. To meet discharge requirements, Keller designed and operated six 500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) treatment trains (total capacity up to 3,000 gpm) with pH adjustment, coagulation/flocculation, clarification, filtration, and carbon and specialty media for dissolved mercury removal. The systems operated 24/7 and, within 15 months, had treated approximately 720 million gallons of contaminated water. 

Project facts

Owner(s)

Equinor

Keller business unit(s)

Keller

Main contractor(s)

Skanska USA Building & Skanska USA Civil JV

Engineer(s)

Keller