The New York City Dept. of Transportation has awarded Skanska USA a contract for the rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Bridge. The $167-million project is funded in part by the Biden Administration’s first round of Bridge Investment Program Grants. The project covers improvements and replacement of the 119-year-old suspension bridge’s aging components. 

Expected to be completed in December 2025, the project will also improve transportation flow across the 7,308-ft-long bridge that serves as a major crossing over the East River, connecting Brooklyn to some of Manhattan’s busiest streets.

“We’re thrilled to be providing infrastructure improvements to one of New York City’s vital East River crossings, which serves thousands of commuters each day, to and from Manhattan and Brooklyn,” Bill Matre, senior vice president and general manager for Skanska USA Civil, said in a statement. 

 The bridge carries four two-lane vehicular roadways, a south roadway and north roadway, with two rapid transit tracks sandwiched in between. A walkway and a bikeway also run across the bridge. On average, more than 104,700 vehicles, 6,700 cyclists and 5,500 pedestrians traveled over the bridge each day as of 2018, according to NYCDOT.

The bridge has undergone several rehabilitations throughout the years. NYCDOT’s efforts to repair the bridge in 1988 were recorded in a documentary film released in 1989. More recently, a $290-million rehabilitation of the bridge's towers was completed in 2012. The project involved replacing the main tower saddle stops, installing seismic shear keys at intermediate towers and tower access improvements. 

Skanska is also working on several other major infrastructure projects in the region. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently awarded a $200-million design-build contract to a joint venture of Skanska USA and Railroad Construction Co., Paterson, N.J., for improvements on the Flushing Line subway between Manhattan and Queens in New York City.

Recently, the Skanska/Traylor Bros. PNB Joint Venture (STJV) held a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the $1.6-billion Portal Bridge in New Jersey. A Skanska USA-led team is also handling the restoration and replacement of the suspension cables on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's George Washington Bridge. The contract for that $452-million project was first awarded in 2017.