Weidlinger received the Diamond for its Pier 3 Cruise Ship Canopy in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Platinum for protecting utilities during demolition of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut.

NEW YORK, NY - Weidlinger Associates received two Engineering Excellence awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York. One was a Diamond Award for the Pier 3 Cruise Ship Canopy in San Juan, Puerto Rico; the other was for protecting utilities during demolition of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. The ACEC awards program recognizes projects that are technically challenging and resolve issues with imagination and foresight. “It was very gratifying to see that we are carrying on the tradition of great engineering at Weidlinger,” said Raymond P. Daddazio, Weidlinger’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Principal-in-charge Tian-Fang Jing described the huge iconic canopy as “a sculpture.” He praised the client, who attended the celebration, for appreciating Weidlinger’s innovative approach. The awards were presented at a dinner-dance at the Waldorf Astoria on March 29, 2008.

Pier 3 Cruise Ship Canopy: Shaped like a giant sail, the tensioned-fabric canopy structure designed by Weidlinger engineers is one of the world’s largest, built for a pier used by Royal Caribbean International Lines in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The canopy’s plan shape, adapted to that of the trapezoidal pier, protects embarking and disembarking passengers, and the winglike cross-section minimizes visual obstructions from ships' upper decks. The landmark structure contributes to the overall attractiveness of the “San Juan Waterfront,” a $1.5 billion expansion project announced by the government of Puerto Rico in 2007. San Juan is Puerto Rico’s tourist center and one of its most important seaports. Weidlinger worked with Ray Architects and Engineers, designers of the pier, and Birdair, producers of tensioned membrane systems.

Without loss of aesthetic distinction, the canopy was designed to resist wind velocities of 145 miles per hour in an active hurricane region. As such, it exemplifies an elegant, lightweight structure that meets the highest safety standards. It is also a fine example of the aesthetic possibilities of tensioned-fabric construction. The canopy, which accommodates cruise liners docked on both sides of the pier at the same time, spans 900 feet from landside to pier end. The width tapers from 120 feet to a point, and the height ranges from deck level to 100 feet above. The PTFE Teflon-coated fiberglass architectural membrane has a surface area of approximately 30,000 square feet. Two inclined steel masts form a “V” at the far end of the pier, supporting the high end of the canopy. The low-spear end of the structure is a pile-supported anchor fin. The long-span structure is without intermediate supports for non-hurricane conditions, but tie-downs were provided to reduce flutter in extreme weather. To accurately determine design wind loads, Wacker Ingenieure Consulting Wind Engineers of Germany conducted wind tests on a 1:200 scale rigid model under conditions that simulated the atmospheric conditions at Pier 3.

New Haven Coliseum Demolition: The January 2007 demolition of New Haven’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum threatened essential buried utilities, some more than a century old. Rather than reroute lines prior to demolition or risk gas leaks and interruptions to telephone and other vital city services, the City relied on an innovative protection plan devised by Weidlinger. A combination of advanced analysis, low-tech materials, and engineering ingenuity resulted in a completely successful, 100% green strategy for the demolition. Soil dynamics were determined by Weidlinger using inexpensive yet accurate on-site dynamic drop tests; on-site tests were also used to assess the energy-absorption capability of old tires, which had a role in offsetting effects of falling debris. Major components of the “green” mitigation scheme were a temporary steel bridge constructed of materials taken from the building and a wedge-shaped berm. Weidlinger’s temporary constructions not only behaved as designed, but were found post-demolition to be in the condition predicted by pre-event analyses. (See previous news release for details.)

Founded in 1921, ACEC New York is the oldest continuing organization of professional consulting engineering firms in the United States. Members of the statewide association represent all major engineering disciplines and range from highly specialized solo practitioners to multidisciplinary firms employing thousands with branch offices worldwide.