Project Brief

P.S. 34M Franklin D. Roosevelt sits one block from the East River in a FEMA AE flood zone. Its oil-fired boilers were in a boiler room whose floor is 28 feet below the Base Flood Elevation and at least 12 feet below the water table. The room flooded during Superstorm Sandy and kept taking on groundwater, so replacing the boilers in place was the least practical path.

KeRi and the design team evaluated three options: a new mechanical annex in the play yard, a rebuilt and hardened boiler room, and a new steam service room under the covered play area. KeRi worked directly with Con Edison's steam division to confirm that high-pressure district steam was available at the site and to establish the cost of a new service, and each option was priced. The SCA selected Con Edison steam, which removed the on-site boilers and fuel oil from the building.

Bringing street steam into an occupied school took close coordination with Con Edison throughout design. KeRi walked the site with Con Edison and the SCA, moved the utility room, service tunnel and point of entry to a location agreed with the school principal, and coordinated relocation of the temporary boiler so Con Edison could complete its street work. The work was split into two phases: first the utility room, trenching and point of entry, then the steam and utility systems inside it.

Utility street steam must be designed for 200 psig and 413°F up to the pressure-reducing valves, so the service entrance was engineered as a high-pressure plant. KeRi performed detailed pipe stress analysis and calculations for the high-pressure piping, covering thermal expansion, expansion joints, and the size, location and loads of every anchor, guide and supporting steel member, all shown on the drawings for code review. Safety shutoff valves protect the lower-pressure piping downstream and were designed to Con Edison's steam distribution requirements and ASME B31.1, with hydrostatic testing specified at 150 percent of design pressure.

KeRi also relocated and upgraded the electric service, added standalone DDC controls and designed a new fire alarm system. The construction cost is approximately $8.2 million.

MEP Engineering Scope

What We Engineered

Mechanical, electrical, and life-safety upgrades:

• Con Edison high-pressure district steam in place of the oil-fired boiler plant
• Direct coordination with Con Edison's steam division on service, point of entry and street work
• Pipe stress analysis with anchor, guide and expansion joint design
• Safety shutoff valves and pressure-reducing valves to ASME B31.1
• Flood-resistant utility room and service tunnel
• Relocated electric service, standalone DDC controls and new fire alarm

The Challenge

A school whose boiler room sits far below the flood elevation needed a new heat source, and the chosen one, high-pressure Con Edison street steam, had to be brought into an occupied building in step with the utility's own street work.

Our Solution

KeRi coordinated the new service with Con Edison's steam division from availability through point of entry, backed the high-pressure piping with detailed stress analysis and anchor design, and moved the plant into a flood-resistant utility room.