Construction workers cleared away steel sheds Tuesday from the Brooklyn side of the East River waterfront to make way for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Officials have found a "green" way to dispose of the unwanted materials. "In the distance you can see a barge full of 300 tons of steel that's going to be recycled from the pier sheds," said Regina Myer, of the Empire State Development Corporation.

The ESDC added that it chose barges to haul away the steel rather than trucks because barges don't emit exhausts, which pollute the air. Myer added that using trucks would have also created more traffic.

The construction started after a state court ruled against a group that claimed the park's inclusion of more than 1,000 private apartments violates rules against private use of public land.

Project advocates successfully argued that construction of those housing units is needed to help defray the costs of the 85-acre park. They claim the units will only take up 10 percent of the entire parkland.