Structures Congress 2017 604

Underpin
nning Historric Structurres at Grand
d Central Sttation, New
w York
Yazzdan Majdi, P.E., Ph.D., M.ASCE1; aand Richardd Giffen, P.E., F.ASCE2
1
Arrup, 77 Wateer St., New York,
Y NY 10
0005. E-maill: yazdan.maajdi@arup.coom
2
Arrup, 77 Wateer St., New York,
Y NY 10
0005. E-maill: richard.gifffen@arup.coom

Abbstract
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The historic Hotel

H Comm modore was designed bby the famous structuraal engineer
Hoomer G Balcom who allso designed d the Empiree State Buildding. Built iin 1917, it
is located
l direectly above and supportted by the G Grand Centrral Station raailroad and
subbway structture below. In 1979 the hotel underwent major refuurbishment
beffore being reopened ass the current Grand Hyaatt. This papeer will descrribe recent
ressearch and design
d workk undertaken n to accommmodate major structuraal changes
req
quired to op pen up spaace and inccrease headr droom at thhe subway mezzanine
lev
vel to improv ve passengerr flows. This involves uunderpinningg and load ttransfer of
thee hotel struccture above using temp porary suppoort, sequenccing and jaccking. The
hisstory of ho otel and its famous designer willl be docum mented togeether with
commmentary on n the structurral design an
nd constructiion methodss employed aat the time.
191
15 & GRAN
ND CENTR
RAL STATIO
ON
The iconic Graand Central Terminal bu uilding we ssee today daates from aroound 1913
andd was part of
o the Termin nal City red
development of the area which demoolished the
original rail terminal and constructed the current station withh tracks beloow ground
alloowing the saale of air rig
ghts and deveelopment abbove. As shoown in Figurres 1 and 2
bellow, the plott allocated fo
or the Hotel Commodoree and the subbject area off this paper
is to
t the east off the main terminal buildding. By 1915 the hotel ssite had beenn excavated
to rock
r and thee current Lexxington subwway line had been constru
ructed, crossiing the site
diaagonally as shown.
s Strucctural drawin
ngs show thaat provision was made ffor a future
hottel above.

Figure 1 – Grand Centtral in 1915 Figu

ure 2 – Site pllan from 19155
– Courteesy of NY Pub
blic Library –CCourtesy of NYY Public Libraary

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191
17, THE HO
OTEL COM
MMODORE
E & HOMER
R G BALCO
OM
Figgure 3 below w shows thee already con nstructed traansit box ennclosing the Lexington
linee subway. This
T is a steel frame and reinforced cconcrete struucture foundded on rock
andd was design ned by Willliam Wilgus, the Railroaads Chief Enngineer. Stuub columns
cann be seen exttending abov ve for futuree splices for tthe hotel collumns. The ttop surface
vissible is the current
c subwway mezzan nine floor annd the raisedd section enncloses the
currrent fare arrray and is thee subject area of this papper.
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Figure 3 – Commodorre site in 1915 Figuree 4 – Hotel Coommodore in 1917

– Courteesy of Smithso
onian – Cou
urtesy of NY P Public Libraryy
The Hotel Com mmodore, opened
o in 19
919, was naamed after C Commodore Cornelius
Vaanderbilt the founder off New York Central Raailroad, ownners and devvelopers of
Graand Central. When open ned, it was onne of the larggest and moost palatial hootels in the
woorld. It had ‘the
‘ most beeautiful lobb
by in the woorld’ with orrnate finishes and high
ceiilings. It pro
ovided travellers with a new
n level off comfort annd direct acccess to the
neww station.
The same team that wass responsible for the G Grand Centrral Terminaal building
supperstructure designed an nd constructeed the Comm modore. As ppart of the reesearch for
thee current modifications
m , architectedd drawings by Warrenn and Wetm more were
loccated in the library
l of Co olumbia Uniiversity and constructionn progress phhotographs
weere located inn the Smithsonian Institu ute Museum in Washinggton DC. Theese show a
struucture typicaal of the timee, consisting
g of riveted bbuilt up steel columns, w
wide section
beaams and fully y riveted con nnections. Flloors consistted of tied arrched concreete slabs.
The structural engineer
e for the buildingg was Homerr G Balcom who is moree famously
knoown as the Engineer
E forr the Empiree State Buildding later in his career. IIn 1917 he
suppervised the design of the
t Commod dore remoteely while woorking in Phhiladelphia
hellping to desig
gn and consttruct ships ass part of the war effort. His colorfull career has
beeen widely documented
d but interestiingly at thee time of thee Commodoore design,
Baalcom was ag ged 46 and was
w working on his own aafter just parrting companny with his
parrtner Wiltonn Barrow wh ho gave up on engineerring to traveel and join a religious
moovement.
The framing arrrangement of o the hotel is
i particularlly complex aas it accommmodates the
diaagonal transit structure below along with
w columnns on close ccenters for thhe high rise
areeas and largee spans for th
he low rise ‘core
‘ area’ ccomprising thhe lobby andd ballroom
aboove with man ny sunken annd raised flo
oor areas.

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197
79 & THE GRAND
G HY
YATT
The Hotel Com mmodore waas successful for many deecades but bby the 1970s New York
Citty was in a financial
f crisis and the area
a around Grand Centtral was in ddecline and
thee owners of the Commo odore went in nto bankrupptcy. Donaldd Trump purrchased the
hottel and undeertook a maajor refurbisshment incluuding compllete demolittion of the
low
wer floors baack to steel frame
fr and thee installationn of the new black glass façade that
is visible
v todayy. Firsthandd accounts ofo the time iindicate thatt workers chhiseled off
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prootruding secttions of the ornate façad de to enable the glazing to be fixed directly to
thee original maasonry.

Figu
ure 5 – Hotel Commodore
C F
Figure 6 – Graand Hyatt todaay
– Courtesy of NYY Public Libra
ary – Courtesy of Arup

The area aroun nd the main entrance thaat is the subbject of this paper experrienced the
larg
gest changee. The origin nal entrancee consisted of stairs upp and ramps down to
sun
nken floors and
a corridorss for various restaurants and lobby arreas. In the 11970, these
weere completeely rebuilt to o create a neew lobby whhich is abovve street leveel and new
retaail below. In
n addition, neew machine rooms and a fountain weere added.

Figure 7 – Original hotel entrance Figure 8 – H

Hotel lobby tod
day
– Courtesy of NY Publlic Library – Courtesy of Arup

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SU
UBWAY IM
MPROVEME
ENTS
The hotel is loccated directly
y above the trracks, platforrm and mezzzanine for thee Lexington
(4/5
5/6) subway line.
l This is th
he busiest sub
bway line in th
the country. Itts ridership att 1.3 million
daily passengerrs exceeds th hat of the su ubway system ms of Bostonn, Washingtoon DC and
Chicago combin ned. At rush hour many of o the stairs, ccorridors andd access passaages can be
verry congested.
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Figure
F 9 – Pllan at subway mezzanine directly under hotell – Courtesyy of Arup
To reduce this congestion,
c work
w is plan
nned to openn up the mezzzanine by deemolishing
wallls and take over
o space thhat is currenntly allocatedd to the hotel above. Thiis will
creaate a larger circulation
c area
a creating more capaccity and imprrove sightlinnes.
To enable this tot happen, a number of existing
e trannsfer girders that supportt the hotel
colu
umns above need to be modified
m to create
c sufficcient headrooom. As showwn in
Fig
gure 9, this iss in two sepaarate location
ns. G19/G200 girders aree located behhind
con
ncrete walls and
a are direcctly under th he ‘Hyatt Coore’ area andd support 2 columns in
the low rise hottel structure in the lobbyy. G75/G76 ggirders are loong span girrders that
sup
pport 2 colum mns in the hiigh rise ‘Hyaatt North’ arrea.
oject was to build on thee preliminaryy work done to
Thee Arup scopee for this pro
investigate and design mod difications to
o the girders including anny strengthenning, load
tran
nsfer and mo
onitoring req quired. Schemmes that minnimized disrruption and iimpact to
the subway andd hotel were obviously preferred.
Aruup were chossen for this work
w in part for their exttensive expeerience with similar
modifications to existing buuildings receently compleeted successffully as part of the
Seccond Avenuee Subway prroject.

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HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS & RESEARCH

The first work undertaken was a review of the preliminary design and an extensive
research and investigation exercise to try to obtain as much existing records as
possible. The libraries of Cornell and Columbia Universities were visited. Cornell
houses some information on its former famous student Homer Balcom but this is
mainly for his work on the Empire State Building. Columbia houses an extensive
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collection on the work of the Architects Warren and Wetmore and this provided a
complete set of the original 1917 Architectural drawings for the Hotel Commodore.
The records of New York City Transit provided copies of the structural drawings for
the 1915 transit structure. Museums of the City of New York and the Smithsonion in
Washington DC provided construction photographs and other information including
structural drawings for the terminal itself. Additionally structural drawings related to
the modifications in 1979 were also obtained. The only significant information not
located were the original 1917 structural drawings for the Hotel Commodore.

CONCEPT DESIGN

The preliminary design had suggested modifications and strengthening by installing

new structure below at track and platform level. This would be very disruptive to
transit operations on such a busy line so alternatives were investigated.
Initially attempts were made to try to investigate and develop a simple scheme to
modify structure above in the Hyatt space. However due to the complexity of the
structure above and disruption this would cause to the hotel, a scheme was developed
which limited work only to the mezzanine area, where good records are available and
the impact of any work would be less disruptive.
Following initial sizing and sequencing, survey work was performed to enable final
analysis and design to be undertaken.

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

The analysis and design procedure started with creating an accurate complex 3D
geometrical model from the hotel’s structure and the subway’s structure running
below using Tekla Structures software. Modeling almost half the hotel’s structure
could adequately represent the zone affected by the girders modifications. In Figures
10 and 11 the 3D geometrical model is shown. Note as per the scope of work, girders,
G19 and G20 in the Core Area shall be removed and replaced in kind at higher
elevations. In the North Area, Girder G75 and G76 shall be partially cut.
Once the geometry of the problem was established, the analysis, design sequencing of
the underpinning and load transfer were developed. Loads on the structure of the
historic hotel and the modifications were evaluated and determined. Dead loads have
been calculated based on available architectural information on the hotel and general
data on the common structural detailing in the age of hotel’s construction. Dead and
Live loads have been determined based on ASCE7-10. A 3D Finite Element Model
analysis model was created using STAAD Pro software.

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PLANE OF
O
SYMMETRRY

Figure 10
0 - 3D Geom
metrical Mo Courtesy of Arup
odel (Generaal View) - C

Figure 11
1 - 3D Geometrical Mo
odel (Work
k Areas) - Coourtesy of A
Arup
As there are noo available sttructural draawings for thhe original hhotel, a compplete design
of the
t hotel’s sttructure wass performed to develop llikely sectioon sizes and ensure load
disttribution and i the structture are reallistic. This included thee design off
d stiffness in
coluumns, primaary beams, seecondary beams, transfeer trusses andd roof trussees.

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DIS
SPLACEME
ENTS

In order
o to evaaluate the efffect of jackiing and respponse of struucture to thaat, effect off
disp
placements on the struccture has beeen studied. To do this, unit displaccements are
impposed at thee base of afffected colum mns and thee forces gennerated in sttructure are
monitored. In Figures 12,, axial force response of structuree to the im mposed unit
disp
placement iss shown nearr the column ns in Core arrea.
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UNDERPINNED
HOTEL
COLUMNS

Figure 12 – Axial forces due to unit displacement

d t (Core Areaa) - Courtesy of Arup

MO
ONITORIN
NG
Durring the loaad transfer procedure,
p seeveral point s at the exissting structuure shall be
careefully monittored to enssure movemeents do not exceed the allowable limits. Load
tran
nsfer proceddure from jaccking up all the way to creating peermanent struucture must
be performed
p gradually
g andd in several steps. At eaach step, all monitoring points shall
be carefully examined
e for
fo any exccessive dispplacements. Examples of critical
monitoring poin nts are basess of the underpinned hootel columns and fragile facilities in
the hotel, such as the waterr fountain.

XISTING ST
EX TRUCTURE
E ASSESSM
MENT

Collumns of thee subway strructure below are eventtually takingg the loads ffrom hotel’s
colu
umn through h the transfeer girders. Itt is importannt to note anny changes to the final
load
ds of subwaay columns dued to modiffications on the transferr girders. In this regard,
modification too the transfeer girders at the Core A Area will nott alter the ggeneral load
path
h and thus, no additionaal loads are imposed onn the subwayy columns iin that area.
Howwever, due tot the changge in the load path in thee North Areea, additionaal loads will
be imposed
i on certain subwway columnss. Such colum umns are careefully evaluaated against
the total new lo
oads to ensurre they can safely
s take thhem.

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CO
ORE AREA LOAD TRA
ANSFER
Temmporary sup pport framing g and tempoorary jacks aare utilized tto perform looad transfer
andd girders rep
placement inn the Core Area.
A Maxim mum and minnimum jackiing loads as
welll as the alllowable mo ovements are determinned and speecified from m structural
anaalysis. As sh
hown in Figu ure 13 and 14, initially, temporary fframing (T1 to T4) will
be installed
i d secured to subway colu
and umns to trannsfer Hyatt looads from coolumns 257
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andd 258. Jacks will be placced and activ

vated to transsfer the hoteel’s column loads to the
tem
mporary fram ming. After this stage, existing
e trannsfer girderss G19 and G G20 will be
unloaded and can
c be safely y removed. Then new ttransfer girdders will be installed in
placce of G19 and
a G20 butt in higher elevations
e annd connecteed to existinng structure.
Thee jacks will be unloadeed so that the load is ttransferred bback to the permanent
stru
ucture. Tempporary framing then can be removedd.
SU
UPPORTING
SSUBWAY
C
COLUMNS

TEMPORARY
T UN
NDERPINNED
SUPPORT HOTEL
FRAMING C
COLUMNS

GIRDERS
REPLACEDD
BY NEW ATT
HIGHER
ELEVATIONN

dified Girdeers (Core Area) - Courrtesy of Arup

Figure 13 – Mod

UNDERPINNED
HOTEL
COLUMNS

TEM
MPORARY
SU
UPPORT GIRDERS
FR
RAMING REPLACED
BY NEW AT
HIGHER
ELEVATION

Figure 14 – Load Tran

nsfer in Corre Area (Frront View) - Courtesy oof Arup

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NO
ORTH AREA
A LOAD TRANSFER
milar to the Core Area, maximum and minim
Sim mum jackingg loads as w well as the
owable movements are determined and specifieed from struuctural analysis. In the
allo
Norrth Area, th here is no teemporary frraming, but rather, a peermanent steel grillage
suppport will bee installed to
o pick up thee loads from
m hotel’s coluumns (Col 998 and 105)
andd transfer theem directly to the subwway columns.. Initially, thhe steel grilllage will be
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insttalled. Then, permanent jacks will beb utilized annd activatedd to create thhe new load
pathh for the hottel’s columns. The girderrs then can bbe safely cutt (see Figuree 15 & 16).
UNDERPINNED
HOTEL
COLUMNS
EXTERIOR
SUBWAY
COLUMNS NEW
RELIEVED PERMANENT
FROM LOAD GRILLAGE

INTERIOR
SUBWAY
COLUMNS
TAKE
ADDITIONAL
LOADS

GIRDERS TO
BE
PARTIALLLY
CUT AT
T
THIS END
D
.
Figurre 15 – Mod
dified Girders (North A
Area) - Courrtesy of Aru
up

UNDERPIN
NNED
GIRDERS TO HOTEL
L
BE COLUMNNS
PARTIALLY
CUT AT
THIS END

Figure 16 – Load Tran

nsfer in Norrth Area (Frront View) - Courtesy oof Arup

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CONCLUSION

Modifying old historic structures can be challenging but it does present modern
engineers with an insight into how previous engineers worked and how old structures
were designed. Undertaking an extensive information gathering research period
frequently provides more useful information than probing which can be disruptive
and limited. The subject structure has a complex and interesting history which has
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been uncovered following this research and has enabled modifications to be tailored
to best suit both the structure and modern constraints. With adequate monitoring and
following the correct sequencing, loads and displacements can be effectively
controlled and modifications on the existing structure can be safely and efficiently
performed.
REFERENCES
1. Homer G Balcom and the Empire State Building by Richard G Weingardt,
ASCE 2011.
2. William G Wilgus and the Grand Central Terminal by Richard G Weingardt
ASCE 2011
3. Homer G Balcom – Americas post WW1 Superstar by Richard G Weingardt
Structure Magazine 2009
4. Grand Centrals Engineer – William J Wilgus and the planning of modern
Manhattan by Kurt Schlichting
5. Grand Central Terminal – Railroads, Engineering and Architecture in New
York City by Kurt Schlichting
6. The Architecture of Warren and Wetmore by Pennoyer and Walker
7. New York City Public Library – Hotel Commodore Photographs
8. Cornell University Public Library – Homer G Balcom collection
9. Columbia University Public Library – Warren and Wetmore collection
10. Smithsonian Institute, DC – Public Archive on Grand Central Terminal
11. New York Hotel Review – Hotel Commodore by Gehring 1919
12. Structural Engineers Handbook by Milo S Ketchum 1914

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Structures Congress 2017