Project Description

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The BQE Connector Ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge is located in Brooklyn, New York and links the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, one of New York's major urban freeways, to the eastern approaches of the Williamsburg Bridge. The ramp carries high volumes of traffic every day and is a crucial component in New York City's highway network.

The original structure, built in the early 1950's, was a four lane steel viaduct constrained to a narrow alignment with buildings to each side in a dense residential and commercial neighborhood and was in need of such a significant amount of repair, it was determined a new structure would be more economical than rehabilitation.

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) chose to construct a precast segmental concrete bridge using span-by-span to replace the aging steel viaduct. The 1400 foot long twin parallel box girder superstructure (10 spans per bridge ranging in length from 24 meters to 47.9 meters with 278 precast segments total) was selected from a wide range of alternative concepts, including steel girders and other conventional solutions. Speed and ease of construction, long-term durability, and aesthetics were controlling factors in the selection of the segmental option.

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American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI) Article: New BQE Connector Ramp to Williamsburg Bridge