Bad News for Squibb Park Bridge: Will Not Reopen Until Spring 2015

By on October 3, 2014 8:13 pm in Architecture, brooklyn bridge park

A story in today’s Times confirms what many locals have suspected:

“…over time, the subtle bounce — part of the design — became more pronounced, then worrisome. On Aug. 11, the bridge, which is 50 feet high, was closed temporarily for repairs, officials said.

On Friday, however, park officials said that Squibb Park Bridge, which cost $5 million, would remain closed until spring as engineers continued to study its movements.”

Last month, Brooklyn Bridge Park officials said the bridge repairs would only take 2 – 3 weeks.

A BHB tipster emailed us recently with his observation and speculation about what could be the issue – could it be tied to Pierhouse construction?:

I noted the excavations on either side of the “Squibb Bridge” support beam below the stressed area on August 10 or 9. When the bridge was closed some days later it was only noted on the entrances to the bridge that it was closed with no explanation. About a week or so after that, it was explained that the bridge was closed due to construction.

Our tipster also observes:

[A] constructing contractor had dug two substantial holes right next to the support column directly above which could be seen the structural damage. These holes were filled with water, as that level is very close to sea level.

What is really the problem? In the words of a frequent BHB commenter, “we shall see.”

Additional reporting by Homer Fink

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  • Peter Loibl

    Damn it … I think I official graduated to a Curmudgeon.

    I admit it: I hate our neighborhood, or at least what it has become. I write this as my apartment vibrates from yet another sound check — at 8:20 am on a Sunday — for yet another rally for another countless cause.

    I need milk, but cringe about going out, as at least 3 tourists will accost me to discuss Grimaldis, the Brooklyn Bridge or BB Park.

    I never meant to move to Times Square, but here I am. And yes I am moving: I am on Trulia more than I am on Gmail or Facebook.

    Good luck to those who tough out the next wave of sterilization.

    Godspeed.

    Peter

  • Mompom

    We were woken up at 6:28 am by them testing the sound equipment. Anyone know who to complain to about this? That is unreasonably early.

  • Andrew Porter

    The firemen have not parked on the sidewalks in a couple of years. No visitors to BBP, nor any illegal parkers, park on sidewalks. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but there’s a new building next to the fire station. You do live around here, don’t you?

  • gatornyc

    Yeah, I confuse our neighborhood with Times Square all the time. I simply can’t understand the constant hyperbole by many on this blog. Our neighborhood was not self-ordained to never change. BBP has had some negative consequences for BH but the positives far outweigh them.

  • Jorale-man

    Exactly – I can’t say I buy the suggestion that the Heights must either be one or the other: a congested pass-through zone for park-goers or a dirty, crime-ridden land of strip clubs.

  • Jim

    well said, gatornyc !!!!

  • marshasrimler

    complain to Councilman Levin and Community Board 2 and 311

  • marshasrimler

    The plans for additional residents on pier 6, pier i and the con ed site will overwhelm the area- not enough schools or healthcare. We have yet to live with all of the consequences of BBP

  • zburch

    I have never understood the opposition to a Montague Street bridge to the park. Montague Street is the major pedestrian thoroughfare of the neighborhood. The Promenade has been a major tourist attraction for decades. The same tourists that have trekked down Montague to visit the Promenade will also want to visit the park. Better to give them logical, visible direct access to the park. If that were available those “pesky tourists” would be funneled out of the neighborhood into the park in a jiffy. Now, they just wander around aimlessly looking for access points to the park. More access doesn’t necessarily increase people in the neighborhood, it only gets them out of the neighborhood and into the park faster.

  • Eddyde

    I think your gut is full of…..

  • Skeezix

    Until the building of the BQE in the 1940s, Montague Street was a heavily trafficked thoroughfare, with a ramp leading down to the harborside and direct access to the ferries to Manhattan. It is the most natural place to add access to BBP. The access does not have to be via a pedestrian walkway but could be via elevator, after the example of the Lacerda Elevator in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. (http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/South_America/Brazil/Estado_da_Bahia/Salvador_da_Bahia-1503499/Things_To_Do-Salvador_da_Bahia-Lacerda_Elevator-BR-1.html)

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