GREENPOINT — The Kosciuszko Bridge will be blown up and carted off in segments this summer, the state's Department of Transportation said.
The implosion is the next step in a massive project to dismantle and replace the span over the Newtown Creek.
The central section of the 77-year-old bridge will be lowered onto a barge and shipped away, while the parts of the structure that are over land will be rigged up with explosives. The plan is that they will fall to the ground, according to the DOT.
State representatives from the Department of Transportation will come before Brooklyn's Community Board 1 soon to discuss the demolition and respond to any concerns, spokesman Jon Weinstein said.
All traffic in both directions will switch from the old bridge to the nearly completed Queens-bound span of the new bridge this spring as the first phase of construction, which cost $555 million, comes to an end.
Once the old bridge is demolished, workers will be able to start work on the second phase which will build the Brooklyn-bound portion, slated for completion in 2020 — four years ahead of the project's original timeline, the DOT said.
"New York is recapturing the bold ambition that made this the Empire State in the first place, and accelerating construction of the new Kosciuszko Bridge is the latest example of how we are growing and innovating," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, announcing the project's new timeline.
Once the entire bridge is completed, it will include a Queens-bound segment with five lanes of traffic, a Brooklyn-bound one with four and a 20-foot-wide bike and pedestrian pathway.
