The Brooklyn Army Terminal Power Station: Combining Structure from Motion Modeling and Maps

A photograph taken by drone of the Power Station at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The image was taken by drone and shows the west facade of the building.

A view of the western facade of the Power Station at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. ©2022 Diedre Brown

 

 Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) History

Cass Gilbert (architect of the Woolworth Building and the United States Supreme Court Building) designed the 95 acre (38 ha) complex built from May 1918 - September 1919 as a United States military supply base. At the time of construction, it was the world’s largest reinforced poured concrete structure (About BAT, n.d.).

BAT was built as a solution to a military supply problem—how to get millions of tons of war supplies and personnel from the rest of the country shipped out to the frontlines (Brooklyn Army Terminal Tours, n.d.). Irving T. Bush had successfully devised an intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex two decades before with Bush Terminal/Industry City (1892-1925), and served as an advisor on the development of BAT.

 
An aerial photograph of the Brooklyn Army terminal taken by drone from the northwest looking southeast.

An aerial photograph of the Brooklyn Army terminal taken by drone from the northwest looking southeast. ©2022 Diedre Brown

 

Timeline

This brief timeline illustrates the history of BAT from 1919 to present day.

Looking at the North Entranc to the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

North entrance to the Brooklyn Army Terminal ©2019 Diedre Brown

  • The Brooklyn Army Terminal Opens

  • BAT is a dock, military prison, and storage space for confiscated drugs and alcohol during Prohibition.

  • BAT is the largest military supply base in the United States.

  • The US DoD announces plans to close BAT, Fort Jay, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Only BAT was closed in 1967.

  • New York City purchases BAT. Renovations, NYCEDC leases properties for industrial tenants, NYPD K9 and marine units, and the docks for parking.

  • Renovations continue. NYCEDC leases for commercial and light industrial use. Public programming implemented. The NYC Ferry Stop arrives.

  • Mega-site for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.

 

This Project

Digital Surface Models (DSM) from photographs are a great way to create virtual in situ models. These models can then be used to measure all types of metrics in relation to a buildings actual size and shape. This project explores the creation of the DSM from drone photography of the eight storey Brooklyn Army Terminal Power Station.

While two separate models, one for 18 March (17 images) and 19 March (25 images), were attempted, both days lacked enough images to form a complete mesh for topographic DEM. However, when these images were released with 91 additional images taken on 20 March, 101 of these images images were enough to provide a more detailed dense cloud (seen above).

BAT Power Station DEM created in AgiSoft Metashape Pro and QGIS by Diedre Brown, 2022.

Visit

Are you interested in visiting the Brooklyn Army Terminal? BAT is open to the public daily. Twice monthly 2-hour walking tours are available through Turnstile Tours.

See this page as an ArcGIS StoryMap.

References

About BAT. (n.d.). Brooklyn Army Terminal. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from  https://brooklynarmyterminal.com/about 

Brooklyn Army Terminal Tours. (n.d.). Turnstile Tours. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://turnstiletours.com/tours/brooklyn-army-terminal-tours/