Squibb Park Bridge is a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

connecting

Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, und ...

and Squibb Park in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It is the second of two bridges on the same site. The original bridge opened in March 2013 and was demolished in late 2019, being replaced by the current bridge in April 2020. It is named after inventor and manufacturer of pharmaceutics E. R. Squibb. The original structure, designed by

Theodore Zoli Theodore P. Zoli, III is an American structural engineer, and a leading designer of cable-stayed bridges. He is currently the National Bridge Chief Engineer at HNTB Corporation and is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow. Career Zoli graduated from Princeton ...

, became known as a

boondoggle A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations. Etymology "Boondoggle" was the name of the newspaper of the Roosevelt Troop of the Boy Sco ...

due to various problems with its construction, including too much bounce and deterioration of its timbers. The bridge initially cost $4.1 million to construct, but the cost of repairs ultimately ended up making the total cost $7.5 million. The current bridge, designed by

Arup Group Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...

and built by

Turner Construction Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...

, is made of steel.

Original bridge

HNTB Corporation, the engineering firm of Theodore Zoli, was contracted to build the bridge by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. The bridge was announced in April 2012 and was constructed from December 2012 to March 2013. Its purpose was to let people travel from Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 1 to the

Brooklyn Heights Promenade The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, also called the Esplanade, is a -long platform and pedestrian walkway cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278) in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. With views of ...

and Squibb Park. Built from

black locust ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States ...

timber supported by

galvanized steel Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerg ...

cables and mounted on

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

pillars, it was meant to have some degree of bounce when people walked across, based on

catwalks A fashion show (French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fal ...

found in state parks. The wooden design was meant to be a "stepping stone" for sustainable vehicular bridges in rural areas.

Structural concerns and demolition

The bounce became more pronounced over time, and the bridge also began moving from side to side in an unintended way, worrying pedestrians. The bridge was closed on August 11, 2014, for repairs due to a "misalignment", though at the time park officials expressed confidence in the bridge's design. The bridge remained closed for the next two years. More than two years after this closing, park officials determined that the bridge's design was "inherently flawed" and filed suit against the bridge's designers. The park spent $3.4 million on repairs to the bridge, including dampers to reduce the bounciness. The lawsuit was settled for $1.95 million with no admission of wrongdoing. The bridge reopened in April 2017, but was closed again in mid-2018 after the wood had started deteriorating significantly. Despite the wood being "extremely rot-resistant", testing later discovered that "higher than expected moisture levels" compromised its condition and quality. Retrofitting the bridge would have cost almost the same as rebuilding it, in addition to maintenance costs. The original bridge was almost entirely demolished in October 2019, with the exception of the concrete support structures, which were retained for use in its rebuilding.

New bridge

A steel replacement was designed by Arup and constructed by Turner. The steel replica was initially expected to be completed by December 2020. It was completed ahead of schedule in April 2020, and opened to the public on May 4, 2020.

Reception

Mary Frost of ''The Brownstoner'' called the original Squibb Park Bridge a "crowd-pleasing but ultimately dysfunctional structure".

References

{{NYC Bridge 2013 establishments in New York City 2019 disestablishments in New York (state) Bridges completed in 2013 Bridges in Brooklyn Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Heights Demolished bridges in the United States Pedestrian bridges in New York City