The Nation - News from June 9, 1988

The 85-year-old Williamsburg Bridge in New York City is still stronger than modern-day spans and does not have to be replaced, Mayor Edward I. Koch said. Instead, Koch said, it will be rehabilitated at a cost of $350 million over the next six or seven years. A new bridge would cost 2 1/2 times as much and take as long as 12 years to build, he said at a City Hall news conference after receiving a report from a panel that studied the deteriorating span between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The bridge was closed for more than six weeks this spring, and now is carrying only two lanes of traffic, because of corrosion in supporting girders. Koch said the city hopes to keep up to six of the bridges eight lanes open throughout the restoration.