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The Willis Avenue Bridge cost the city $1.6 million when it was constructed in 1901. More than a hundred years later, its planned replacement should cost an additional $635.4 million to build. The low-profile bridge crosses the Harlem River and connects the Bronx to Manhattan's First Avenue. The Transportation Department estimated the cost of its replacement at $417 million and was surprised when it received bids of $612 million and $637 million. At 3,212 feet, the new Willis Avenue Bridge will wind up costing $198, 319 per foot, if the city goes with the high bidder. The New York Times offers some helpful context:
When it is done, Ms. Weinshall said, the Willis Avenue Bridge will be the most expensive bridge ever built by her department.But the reconstruction of some bridges has cost more, and New York State and New Jersey spent more, when inflation is taken into account, for the George Washington Bridge, which was completed in 1931. The 6,016-foot-long Brooklyn Bridge, which was financed by what were then the separate cities of Brooklyn and New York, cost about $16 million to build. It was finished in 1883. In today’s dollars, taking inflation into account, that would be about $300 million, according to the MeasuringWorth.com Web site.
Of course, were the city to build a new Brooklyn Bridge today, the price would reach into the billions. The city has spent more than $3 billion over the last two decades to rehabilitate the East River bridges and is in the midst of an $829 million project to reconstruct the Manhattan Bridge, according to information on the Transportation Department’s Web site.
Construction is expected to begin around the end of this year and should take five years to complete.
(Photo from vaticanus' flickr photostream)
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Will the old bridge stay during construction?
i'm not an engineer, but that seems like a ridiculously high price tag. that bridge is TINY. it's like 250 feet long or so. I can't believe it would cost more than about $100 million to build it, and even that seems high.
it's possible the headline should read, "Wanna BUILD a bridge? You can't afford it." This is because, if a recall correctly, you might actually be able to BUY the *old* willis avenue bridge for just one dollar. early last year, the DOT announced they would sell the bridge for $1, and even throw in free delivery: story. Not sure if they've revised that plan since.
@Elderta: Yes, it will stay up until the new one is built.
It's a small matter but I hope they update the road surface to something other than metal grating. The bridge is on the NYC Marathon route and caused a somewhat painful ass cramp a few years back.
THX, ADM. I live in the area at the corner of the 3rd Ave. Bridge and it's good to know I can still take a late night "I'm drunk" taxi ride home. The article mentions the $1 for the bridge scheme, too, but said no one wanted to buy it because it would cost too much to move it.
600 Million that could be better spent improving transit options.
does this mean they will charge a toll?
does this mean they will start to charge a toll?