Pier 76 Construction

Pier 76 Construction. Hudson River Pk. , By the 1950s, the rise of larger freighters and the advent of containerized shipments made the city's older, smaller piers obsolete. In response, the New York City Department of Marine and Aviation undertook a $200 million redevelopment project to keep the "water hub of the world" at the forefront of progress., On August 30, 1962, Mayor Wagner hosted a ceremony initiating the construction of the $9 million state-of-the-art pier, and engineer James Kelly placed the first of more than 7,300 fir pilings 100 feet deep into the muddy Hudson riverbed., [Captions:] , When finished in 1964, the covered pier allowed for the berth of two ships and measured 300 feet wide and 635 feet long, extending 726 feet into the Hudson. the structure also included an adjoining 615-foot-long bulkhead platform and shed., The new Pier 76 replaced the old Piers 75, 76, and 77. These older piers were designed for older ships, which carried crates that required longshoremen to unload them by hand over the course of several days. , ,br> The timber piles were capped with concrete extensions down to the average low water mark of the river. the piles were braced horizontally to achieve a bearing capacity of 20 tons. Pilings were treated with creosote. This petroleum byproduct prevents decomposition and fire, and it deters marine-boring organisms. ,

A. Timber Piles , B. Horizontal Braces , C. Concrete Extensions

, The New York city Department of Marine and Aviation (1942-1977) oversaw the revitalization of Pier 76 during the administration of Mayor Robert f. Wagner Jr. (1954-1965). Commissioner Vincent A.G. O'Connor, pictured, stated in 1955 that "Immediate improvements of the city's waterfront facilities is imperative if New York is to retain its supremacy as a port."