Slurry wall dig underway at NY Law School site.

Complex construction of the perimeter slurry wall at the new NY Law School site at West Broadway and Leonard Street in downtown Manhattan is underway

Project management specialists, VVA announced that workers began to dig the slurry wall--which is three feet thick by ten feet wide by approximately 100 feet deep--in late December.

Sections of earth are being excavated one section at a time all the way to the bedrock below Manhattan Island to create a "panel". This concrete panel is then securely fastened into the existing bedrock to create a "bathtub" which prevents water penetration to the inside of the foundation, allowing for habitation of below grade space.

The project, taking place at the school's main campus, includes the development of the 235,000 s/f of new building including classrooms, student space, a law library, auditorium, student cafeteria and faculty dining areas.

"VVA was retained by NY Law School in 2004 to assist with the early planning stages of the project including due diligence, lease negotiations, site negotiations and procurement of the team," explained Irwin Schneider, partner in charge of the NYLS project.

"We are very proud of our involvement in such a complex, monumental project for downtown New York. VVA prides itself on providing innovative solutions to complex issues and this project certainly personifies these values."

NYLS is zoned to build a five-story building, making it necessary to build four floors below grade so that the programmed amount of space could be attained.

"The resulting construction is very similar to that of the original World Trade Center site, where they excavated to build a basement bathtub and slurry wall," said Curt Epstein, project manager for VVA on the NYLS project.

"This is essentially a mining operation until the entire underground structure of the building is completed. In addition, the tightness of the site and proximity to subway lines only serve to make it more complicated."

The NYLS project also requires significant coordination with the MTA. Approvals were obtained from MTA Engineers prior to starting construction. One of the MTA's majors concerns is the excavation along the 1,2,3 subway lines. In order to combat these concerns, digging of the original panels of the building began 50 feet from the nearest subway tunnel so that MTA inspectors can gauge the noise and vibration created by the construction before it comes close to the tunnel.

Schneider assured, "VVA and the Project Team worked very closely with the MTA personnel to ensure that the proper methodologies and precautions are in place at all times."

Other Project Team members include, broker age team, Studley; construction manager, Pavarini McGovern; architect, The Smith Group; geo technical engineers, Mueser Rutledge; and structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti. Construction is expected to be complete in August 2008 with NY Law School taking occupancy shortly there after.

"The most important aspect of this project for VVA is to ensure that the New York Law School achieves their desired goals and end result for the project," added Schneider.

"Through careful planning and proper execution of the project plan in order to maintain schedules, budgets and logistics, we will make sure this occurs."