Congratulations to SKE Team on the Opening of the Kosciuszko Bridge

Congratulations to the Skanska Kiewit ECCO III team on a successful public opening of the Kosciuszko Bridge on April 27.  The celebration began with a ribbon cutting ceremony in the afternoon where Governor Cuomo drove FDR’s refurbished 1939 Packard across the bridge, and followed up with Governor Cuomo kicking off a light show set to New York themed music at a festive event alongside the bridge in the evening.

The original bridge, built in 1939, was rated one of the worst bridges in New York City, a fact highlighted by the GCA in 2009. Indeed the Kosciuszko Bridge is emblematic of the difficulties advancing major transportation projects in the U.S.  It took 16 years to bring this project from planning to fruition.  The EIS process lasted almost 10 years.  Lack of federal and state funding and a series of short term federal transportation bill extensions resulted in deferred project delivery and splitting the project into smaller components over multiple capital plans.

Work still remains to be done on the first half of the bridge, including the “energetic felling” of the original bridge and the ramp connections and site work.  Bids for the second half of the bridge are due in May.