NYC DOT - Bridges

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Design-Build at NYC DOT

Pre-Qualification for Bridge Capital Projects

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Movable Bridges

NYC DOT owns, operates, and maintains 789 bridges and tunnels throughout New York, including the Brooklyn, Ed Koch Queensboro, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, 24 movable bridges, and four tunnels. There are no tolls on bridges operated by NYC DOT. Some bridges in New York City are operated by other agencies.

Construction Projects

NYC DOT performs many bridge construction projects, ranging from preventative maintenance to installing entirely new bridges.

Learn more about the history and construction work on the East River Bridges:

Brooklyn Bridge

Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge

Manhattan Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge

Construction work on other NYC DOT bridges:

Belt Parkway Bridges Reconstruction

NYC DOT began reconstruction of six bridges and their approaches on the Belt Parkway in 2009. These bridges, over Bay Ridge Avenue, Gerritsen Inlet, Mill Basin, Paerdegat Basin, Rockaway Parkway, and Fresh Creek Basin Bridges, all are original structures, built beginning in 1939. These bridges have outlived their useful lives and must be replaced.

Learn more on the Belt Parkway Bridges project's Facebook page

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE)

New York City is moving forward to fix the BQE in Brooklyn.
Learn more at bqevision.com

BQE Interim Repairs

This project is for the rehabilitation, and/or replacement of approximately 1.5 miles of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE)/I-278 in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York, with a significant portion of its length supported by 21 bridges, including a unique 0.4-mile long triple-cantilever structure. This segment of the BQE is a critical link of I-278, which is the sole interstate highway in Brooklyn connecting Brooklyn with Queens, the Bronx, and New England to the North/East, and Staten Island and New Jersey to the South/West. The Project extends between Sands Street on the east and Atlantic Avenue on the west including the entire Atlantic Avenue interchange in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York.

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) Interim Repairs – presented to community meeting organized by Assembly Member Carroll alongside Councilmembers Shahana Hanif and Rita Joseph on September 22nd, 2022
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) – Interim Repairs

John Finley Walk, Promenade over FDR Drive

NYC DOT plans to rehabilitate John Finley Walk, the promenade above the FDR Drive between E. 81st and E. 90th streets. The project, which is being managed by NYC DOT on behalf of NYC Parks, will implement structural repairs to the underside of the deck, repair walls along the roadway, and replace concrete girders. It will also make important upgrades, eliminating uneven surfaces, improving drainage, replacing the pedestrian railings, and replacing street lighting and benches along the entire span. The $80 million project will bring needed state of good repair improvements to the 1930s top-level structure.
John Finley Walk, Promenade over FDR Drive – presented to Manhattan Community Board 8 Transportation and Parks Committees in June 2021 (pdf)

Riverside Drive Viaduct over West 158th Street

NYC DOT is rehabilitating the Riverside Drive Viaduct between 153rd and 161st streets in Manhattan. The project spans the northern section of Riverside Drive West from W. 155th to W. 161st Streets and the southern cantilever section from W. 153rd to W. 155th Streets. The bridge deck, sidewalks and expansion joints will be fully replaced; the steel framing will be rehabilitated; and the superstructure encasement will be removed. Historic elements such as the dual cast iron lampposts will be replaced in-kind to maintain their character and the parapet wall will be restored. The existing steel railings will be replaced with a Texas Aesthetic Concrete Barrier, and the cobra head luminaries with Type M light poles (also known as Flatbush poles). Vibration, noise and traffic will be closely monitored.
NYC DOT has conducted community outreach events and will continue to be available to stakeholders through a dedicated, full-time community liaison, Valerie Torchon. She can be reached at 646.942.1909 or via email at riversiderehab158@gmail.com.
Riverside Drive Viaduct - presented at a Town Hall meeting in February 2019 (pdf)

Bridge Statistics

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge is the busiest DOT bridge—on an average weekday in 2010, 178,000 vehicles crossed it. The next most-used DOT bridge was the Mill Basin Bridge, with 141,000 crossings. The Brooklyn Bridge had 124,000 crossings, the Williamsburg Bridge had 111,000 crossings and the Manhattan Bridge saw 75,000 crossings by vehicles on the average weekday. The quietest DOT-operated bridge was the historic Carroll Street Bridge, with 1,000 crossings

Ten bridges in New York City had been awarded some degree of landmark status, including seven that under DOT's jurisdiction: the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queensboro, Washington, University Heights, Carroll Street and Macombs Dam Bridges. The three landmarked bridges not operated by DOT are the George Washington Bridge (Port Authority), the High Bridge (NYC Department of Parks & Recreation), and Hell Gate Bridge (Amtrak).

New York City's first bridge, known as the King's Bridge, was constructed in 1693. Fitted with stone abutments and a timber deck, it spanned Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx. It was demolished in 1917. The oldest bridge that is open to passengers or vehicles is the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883.

DOT publishes an annual Bridge and Tunnel Condition Report that describes the recent and planned maintenance and capital projects on DOT bridges.
Read more DOT bridge publications in the DOT Library

As part of DOT Art programs, artists install their work on DOT's bridges
Learn more about DOT Art

Bridges not under DOT's jurisdiction

Many roadway bridges and tunnels not under DOT's jurisdiction are the responsibility of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) or the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Other bridges and tunnels are the responsibility of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, the New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak.

The MTA operates bridges and tunnels on the Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Railroad, and subway systems. MTA Bridges and Tunnels operates the following roadway bridges and tunnels:

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel

Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge

Henry Hudson Bridge

High Bridge

Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge

Queens Midtown Tunnel

Throgs Neck Bridge

Robert F. Kennedy (Triborough) Bridge

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

The Port Authority operates the following road bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey:

Bayonne Bridge

George Washington Bridge

Goethals Bridge

Holland Tunnel

Lincoln Tunnel

Outerbridge Crossing