10 NYC Bridges in Dire Need of Fixing

New York bridges falling down, falling down…

The 10 most decrepit state-owned bridges in the Big Apple are desperately in need of federal funds to fix potentially dangerous conditions, a trade group warned yesterday.

Almost all the crumbling structures span waterways or train tracks or are located on major highways, the General Contractors Association of New York said.

Leading the way is the chronically congested Kosciuszko Bridge on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, followed by the Gowanus Expressway and the Bronx River Parkway section that crosses over Amtrak rails, the group said.

“There are sections of the Bronx River Parkway where you can see that the connections between the columns and beams are disappearing,” said Denise Richardson, managing director of the group.

Seven of the 10 deteriorating spans are in The Bronx.

Both the contractors’ association and state Department of Transportation are calling for increased federal funds this year to fix the bridges.

The DOT wants about $8.75 billion per year for the next five years to fund the repairs.

“These are difficult financial times, as everyone knows,” DOT spokesman Adam Levine said. “Any money we get, the first cut goes to safety projects.”

Richardson warned that the current $350 million that goes to state bridges in the city each year is “insufficient to meet the existing number of projects which have been red-flagged by New York state engineers.”

The 10 worst were cited as: 1) the Kosciuszko Bridge; 2) the Gowanus Expressway; 3) the Bronx River Parkway over Amtrak; 4) the Cross Bronx Expressway viaduct over Amtrak; 5) a Major Deegan Expressway overpass near Yankee Stadium; 6) a Major Deegan overpass at Metro-North; 7) a northbound Bruckner Expressway service road overpass; 8) a Bruckner Boulevard viaduct; 9) 150th Street where it crosses the Belt Parkway; 10) the southbound Major Deegan ramp at 153rd Street.