MTA taking steps to make sure bridges are structurally sound
NEW YORK -- New York City is home to more than 700 bridges, and the MTA owns and operates seven of them connecting all five boroughs.
The agency has acknowledged the bridges are in need of repairs. CBS New York's Elijah Westbrook took a look at what's being done to make sure they stay structurally sound.
"We're very concerned about them, it's something that we want to closely monitor," MTA SVP & B&T Business Unit Leader Joe Keane said during a recent meeting.
December's Capital Planning Committee meeting unveiled new information about sustaining the bridges' structural integrity, safety and state of good repair.
"We're planning to install weigh-in-motion technology on the Verrazzano, RFK, Cross-Bay and Marine Parkway bridges to identify overweight trucks," MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said.
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Cameras in the area and sensors embedded in the pavement will generate a violation to the owner of the overweight truck.
"If they ae significantly overweight, many many cycles of that behavior, ultimately, it reduces what they call the fatigue life," said Keane.
Main cable dehumidification is also being explored to avoid corrosion within them. Without healthy cables, the bridges could fall.
"Corrosion is dangerous," explained Raimondo Betti, a civil engineering professor at Columbia University.
Betti has studied bridge infrastructure for more than 30 years. He said there are numerous steel wires inside the tubular cables that, over time, develop moisture and eventually cause them to break. Drying the inside of the cables helps prevent that from occurring.
"If you don't maintain the structure, the structure sooner or later will collapse," Betti said.
The MTA is also using a modern overcoating method.
"That will prevent the water from getting in touch with the steel. That will prevent any leaks of air," said Betti.
An estimated 325 million vehicles travel over the MTA's bridges each year. The agency invested nearly $1 billion in its bridges during the 2020-2024 capital period.
There are no major bridge projects slated for 2024, but it's these little things that help keep travelers safe.