The replacement of the 3rd Avenue Bridge was part of the Improvement of East River Bridges project from 2000-2012, along with 145th Street Bridge and Willis Avenue Bridge. Working directly for KiSKA Construction, the General Contractor of the Replacement of the 3rd Avenue Bridge project, UrbanTech provided engineering services related to the blue‐water tow from Mobile, Alabama to New York City and the float‐in of the main swing span. The main swing span of the 3rd Avenue Bridge was erected offsite in Mobile, Alabama, where it was loaded onto a 100’x400’ oceangoing barge utilizing SPMT units and was towed to New York City.

UrbanTech performed of the analysis of the barge‐bridge system under anticipated loads during transportation. The sea‐fastening was designed for 21‐ft wave loads and wind loads. During the voyage, the barge encountered a storm with 18‐ft waves. The stresses in critical bridge members were measured using an on‐board structural monitoring system which showed that the stresses during transportation were very close to the analytical results. The bridge was safely delivered to New York City without any damage.

Additionally, UrbanTech performed the barge stability analysis and developed a procedure to check the stability of catamaran systems. A scale model test was performed to verify the results. This procedure was used to check the stability of the float‐in barges to design the float‐in falsework. Other tasks performed by UrbanTech include design of truss camber, design of temporary bridge connecting Manhattan and Bronx, and demolition procedure of existing bridge using barge crane.The replacement of the Willis Avenue Bridge was part of the Improvement of East River Bridges project from 2000-2012, along with 145th Street Bridge and Third Avenue Bridge.