Fulton Street Transit Center

Helping deliver a transit center that is seen as essential to the economic recovery of Lower Manhattan

Location

New York, USA

Client

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction

Project status

Completed in 2014

A New Station in the Heart of the World Trade Center

The new Fulton Street Transit Center opened in November 2014, connecting nine subway lines in Lower Manhattan (New York, US) and rivals Grand Central for providing a light, airy, and pleasant commuting experience, albeit on a smaller scale.

The Fulton Center brings together five underground stations that had been built by three competing subway systems—the IRT (originally designed by William Barclay Parsons in the 1890s), the BMT (which dates to 1913), and the IND (which began construction in 1925). Even after these systems were consolidated under the New York City Transit Authority in 1953, transferring among the lines was difficult. The new center makes transferring among the nine lines (A, C, J, Z, R, 2, 3, 4, 5) convenient and pleasant.

The centerpiece of the station is a glass-and- steel structure that features a soaring glass oculus, 90-feet (27-metres) high, and a large atrium.

Subway lines

9

Retail space

2,800 m²

Height of glass oculus

27 m

Overseeing the Construction from Beginning to End

WSP, in joint venture with Bovis Lend Lease, served as consultant construction manager to MTA Capital Construction Company (MTACC), ensuring that construction was carried out in accordance with the approved design, and advising MTACC on issues that arose during construction.

Given the complexity of the new structure, and the need to maintain 24/7 passenger access to all subway lines, managing the construction process posed a number of challenges.

Before construction could begin on the main structure, four existing buildings had to be demolished and the 125-year- old Corbin Building was rehabilitated to become part of the Fulton Center complex.

Major challenges during construction included consolidating multiple communications systems—for functions such as fire alarm, public address, and smoke exhaust—into a central command center in the new building.

The Fulton Center is connected to the nearby World Trade Center complex, offering a connection to the E and 1 subway lines and the PATH trains between New Jersey and the World Trade Center.