New York, NY – On August 9, 2010, the Willis Avenue Bridge completed its journey by barge and moved into its final position.  Hardesty & Hanover – represented by CEO and Partner, Charles J. Gozdziewski, PE – welcomed the bridge to its new location alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

“We have said time and again that we will not walk away from making the investments needed to build a better future for our city. The new Willis Avenue Bridge is the latest example of the progress our Administration has made in rebuilding the city’s infrastructure, including investing more than $5 billion to rehabilitate the city’s bridges.  These investments will help keep our city strong through this century and beyond,” Bloomberg said in a statement.  The Willis Avenue Bridge project is a part of more than $5 billion in city bridge investments made by the Bloomberg Administration since 2002.

The Willis Avenue Bridge – a 350’ steel truss swing bridge – links Manhattan and the Bronx and was barged down the Hudson River from where it was constructed in Coeymans, NY. The swing span is the centerpiece of this $612M bridge replacement project. From preliminary to final design, and new construction support services, Hardesty & Hanover provided comprehensive engineering services for the full project on behalf of the New York City Department of Transportation – Division of Bridges.

For the next two months, workers will conduct the final engineering and electrical work to finalize the bridge’s connection with the approach spans already built on both sides of the river. The new bridge is expected to be open to traffic in October.

A link to the video of the news conference can be found here.