New Willis Avenue Bridge Journeys Up East River

[TalkBXAdmin]

The new Willis Avenue Bridge made its way up the East River on a barge today on its way to its home on the Harlem River.

The new Willis Avenue Bridge was completing a journey that started last week in the Albany area, where it was built over the past year and a half. The $612 million, 350-foot long, 2,400-ton steel structure passed under the city's most famous span, the Brooklyn Bridge, on its way to the Bronx.

"First I said, 'What are all these people staring at?' Then I saw the bridge floating in the water and, said 'Oh my God, what is that?'" recalled one witness.

"It's something you don't get to see everyday in New York," said another.

Also on hand to watch it float by was New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who says the new structure replaces the current 109-year-old bridge that carries 70,000 vehicles each day from Manhattan to the Bronx. She says years of wear and tear made replacement necessary.

"It’s had a wonderful life, but now there will be a brand-new, much better bridge to the Bronx,” said Sadik-Khan. “We'll have wider lanes, less turns, and greater connectivity to the Major Deegan and the FDR Drive."

The Willis Avenue Bridge was able to fit under the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Queensboro Bridge, but for a couple of the bridges on the East River, it wasn't so easy. The Wards Island Bridge had to be lifted, and so did the RFK Bridge.

Once traffic is permitted on the new bridge in November, the old one will be floated away just like its replacement floated in, but headed for the scrap heap after serving the city for more than a century.

SOURCE