The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has approved a $249 million contract to rehab the suspension cables on the Verrazzano‑Narrows Bridge, a vital link between Brooklyn and Staten Island serving some 220,000 vehicles daily, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
At the heart of the project is a dehumidification system for the bridge’s four main suspension cables. Moisture is the enemy of steel, and the system will remove humidity trapped inside the tightly packed wires to prevent corrosion and reinforce structural integrity.
“Essentially all of those cables, the wires bound up inside those cables, suffer from corrosion over time and it’s humidity that really accelerates the corrosion,” said Jamie Torres-Springer, president of the MTA’s construction and development.
MTA construction and development officials noted that the goal is to reduce relative humidity inside the cables to below 40% , the paper said. This work aims not only to halt deterioration but also to extend the lifespan of cables installed when the bridge opened in 1964.
This isn’t the first time the system has been used in New York City. The MTA is already installing it on the RFK Bridge and plans to roll it out across its other suspension bridges as part of its 2025‑29 capital plan.
A construction firm, Skanska Koch, Inc., will install a suite of enhancements over the next four years. That includes cable dehumidification, an acoustic monitoring system to track internal stress or changes, periodic internal inspections of cable panels, replacement of hand ropes and stanchions and up to five years of system maintenance after the systems go live.
“With the 2025-2029 plan, we will be able to install the system on our two other suspension bridges as well,” Torres-Torres Springer said.
Originally proposed last year, the project was delayed after Governor Kathy Hochul paused the city’s congestion pricing plan in June 2024. Now that funding is cleared, the bridge rehab is set to begin, though exact timelines for breaking ground haven’t been released.
The MTA oversees seven bridges in New York City, along with two tunnels. Together, they carry over 336 million vehicle crossings annually.
