Manhattan Bridge in New York. Credit: MusikAnimal.

Skanska has won a Skr675m ($76m) contract from the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) to rehabilitate the Manhattan Bridge in the US.

Constructed in 1909, it is said to be the most heavily travelled East River bridge. More than 85,000 vehicles, 4,000 bicyclists, and 340,000 transit riders travel across it every day.

Skanska will be responsible for executing considerable structural and component rehabilitation on a number of aspects of the bridge.

Additionally, the contractor will upgrade the bridge’s safety and maintenance features such as its fire suppression system and dehumidification, as well as drainage infrastructure.

“It was the last of the three suspension bridges that were constructed across the lower East River, after the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.”

Construction work is scheduled to commence this year with completion expected by 2021.

The Manhattan Bridge connects Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension.

It was the last of the three suspension bridges that were constructed across the lower East River, after the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.

Built by the Phoenix Bridge Company and designed by Leon Moisseiff, the main span of the bridge is 1,470ft-long, with the suspension cables measuring 3,224ft. The bridge was opened to traffic in December 1909.

The bridge underwent a $920m reconstruction programme in 1982, which involved the reconstruction of the north and south upper roadways and subway tracks, as well as the installation of a truss stiffening system.

Skanska specialises in the construction and development of buildings, civil infrastructure, public-private partnerships and commercial property developments in select markets of the US.