Dynamiting parts of the bridge will expedite construction on the new span
The Kosciuszko Bridge's fate will finally reflect what angry, waylaid drivers have wished upon it for years: it's getting blown the heck up. That's only part of the truth—the Post (h/t Gothamist) reports that as soon as traffic can be moved from the existing span to the new bridge being built alongside of it, the old span that carries the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway over Newtown Creek is coming down.
To get technical, the Brooklyn and Queens approaches of the bridge will be dynamited and the middle portion over the creek will be hauled off. It'll take two barges two days to haul off the 2,400-ton middle portion according to the Coast Guard (h/t Brooklyn Paper). This method will expedite the construction of the new bridge by seven to nine months, Gothamist reports.
Although the new bridge will be accessible starting in 2018, construction on the whole project, including a second bridge with bike and walking paths, isn't expected to wrap up until 2020. The first bridge will have five lanes ultimately serving Queens, and the second bridge will run the opposite direction and include the auxiliary paths.
The Post says the first phase of the rebuilding the bridge, which kicked off in 2013, cost taxpayers $550 million. A request for proposals is expected to be issued for the second half of the bridge shortly.
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