American Dream Meadowlands
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Project Timeline
Start Date: 2012
Completion Date: 2021
American Dream Meadowlands
Triple Five Group
Triple Five Group
Structural design and construction supervision
Buildings, Commercial
Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
Covering an area of 4,800,000 square feet and containing over 500 stores and restaurants, the American Dream Meadowlands shopping center is a retail and entertainment complex, located minutes from the heart of New York City. The shopping and entertainment complex is home to the country's first indoor ski hill, an indoor amusement park, the largest indoor water park in North America, an NHL regulation sized indoor ice rink, a movie theater, an 18-hole miniature golf course and hundreds of retailers. The Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park covers an area of 300,000+ square feet and features over 35 rides where as the DreamWorks Water Park covers an area of 225,000+ square feet, and comprises of 40 water slides and 15 attractions, including a 1.5-acre wave pool and 142-foot-tall body slide.
MGA Engineering is the structural designer and structural Engineer-of-Record for the new recreational and entertainment facilities owned by the Triple Five Group in Meadowlands, New Jersey, USA. MGA activities included conceptual design, interaction with all consultants involved in the project, detailed design of all structural components and connections, production of engineering drawings, planning for modularization, fabrication and erection.
Building Layout
The new recreational and entertainment facilities that MGA engineered consists of four individual buildings. The Connector Building serves as the "bridge", connecting the new facilities to the existing mall building, and houses retail and restaurants, an ice rink, mini golf course, and three large skylights. The Core Building, serves as the corporate offices for Triple Five, and, as well, houses the main electrical and mechanical systems for the surrounding buildings. The Amusement Park features several roller coasters, an arcade and other various theme park rides, whereas the Water Park features multiple water slides, water features and a giant wave pool.
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American Dream Site Conditions
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The new construction is currently occupied by east peripheral and south connector roadways, landscape areas and undeveloped land
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The subsoil consists of highly compressible fill, marsh deposits, and varied clay, which are not suitable for support of the proposed structure. Therefore, all loads are supported by piles to bedrock
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Four types of piles were used for this project:
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Concrete filled steel driven pipe piles
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Continuous flight augered (CFA) piles
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Micro piles
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Rock socketed drilled shafts
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American Dream Amusement Park
Did You Know?
MGA took professional responsibility for the stability of the Amusement Park structure during erection in order to accommodate an accelerated erection schedule. Each phase was modeled and calculated. With the assistance of the inspection agency, the wind and weather conditions were continuously monitored to ensure the wind gusts did not exceed the allowable.
Amusement Park Data
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Total area: 299,000.0 sf
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Length: 792 ft
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Width: 370 ft
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Structural spans: 100 to 170 ft
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Building height: 70 to 110 ft
Scope of Work
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Foundation & concrete work
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Accommodating erection equipment
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Accommodating electrical conduits
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Slab interstitial space
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Steel superstructure
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Structural Engineering Models
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Analysis
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Tekla
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Connections
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Interface with other disciplines
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Mechanical and electrical
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Amusement park rides
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Main Challenges
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Modularization planning
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Schedule driven project
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Accommodating erection cranes
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Accommodation of electrical and drainage piping
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Provisions for special rides
American Dream Water park
Did You Know?
MGA took the lead in the planning of the interstitial space in order to achieve maximum space ulitization as well as the most economically efficient solution. This meant using its expertise in industrial piping projects to optimize allocation for the pipe routing.
Water Park Data
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Foundation System
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Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) Piling for the main structural slab
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Rock socketed large diameter drilled shafts for the arch system
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Base structural slab: Cast-in-place concrete
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Interstitial space: Geofoam and cellular concrete
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Surface structures: Concrete pools
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Superstructure: Arch and long span truss systems
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Length: 917 ft (279.5 m)
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Width: 310 ft (94.5 m)
Scope of Work
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Foundation & concrete work
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Accommodation of erection equipment
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Accommodation of electrical conduits and pool piping
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Slab interstitial space
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Steel superstructure
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Modules and arches
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Steel connections
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Interface with other disciplines
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HVAC modularization
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Architecture
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Theming
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Pipes
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ETFE
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Main Challenges
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Modularization planning
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Schedule driven project
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Erection planning
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Accommodating erection cranes
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Accommodation of electrical and pool piping
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ETFE Studies
American Dream Core Building