Workers will lift a 1.53-million-pound steel structure, along with 18 other massive pieces, over FDR Drive on the Upper East Side in the coming weeks to erect a huge building that will straddle the highway.

The road will be partially shut down on 19 nights so that the pieces can be moved, one per evening, said transportation expert Sam Schwartz, who is coordinating the project.

The largest piece will go over the highway Tuesday night. It will take 45 minutes to an hour just to lift the structure, and another 45 minutes to move it from one side of the highway to the other and drop it onto columns. The building will be an addition to Rockefeller University.