Case Studies

Lemon Creek Bridge - Staten Island, NY

New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible for all the city-owned parks and recreational facilities. Designing facilities with low maintenance requirements is one of the primary goals for the Department’s engineers.

Two projects located in Staten Island, New York, have utilized Seaward’s composite products to help achieve this goal.

The Lemon Creek Bridge is a pedestrian bridge in Staten Island’s Lemon Creek Park. The New York Department of Parks of Recreation wanted this short-span bridge to be built completely of recycled materials as a demonstration project. The material to be used would require consistent structural properties. Graffiti resistance and aesthetic considerations also factored into the design. As a result of these requisites, three 10" x 10" (250mm x 250mm) SEATIMBER, composite marine timbers, 35' (10.7m) long and tan in color, were chosen as stringers for the bridge. Plastic lumber decking, also tan in color, was used atop the SEATIMBER stringers as a walking surface.

The bridge was installed during the summer of 1997 by Lomma Construction Corp., of Staten Island, and has been in service since that time. According to Peter Wolpensinger of the Department of Parks and Recreation, “We appreciated Seaward’s flexibility in matching the tan color of the plastic lumber material. We very much like the way the bridge looks, as well as its low maintenance requirements.”

The second project featuring Seaward’s composite materials is a bulkhead at Oakwood Beach, also on Staten Island. Again, New York’s Department of Parks and Recreation chose to combine Seaward composite materials with a facing of plastic lumber. SEAPILE composite marine piling 10" (250mm) in diameter was used for vertical piles and batter piles supporting the 8" x 12" (200mm x 300mm) SEATIMBER composite marine timber beams and the plastic lumber facing. As with the Lemon Creek Bridge, a tan color was used for aesthetic reasons. The piling, timber, and facing material were installed first and the soil then backfilled against the bulkhead.

The installation, completed in early 2000, was performed by William A. Gross Construction Associates of New Hyde Park, New York.