

Engineer Ted Zoli on the bridge, before it opened. (Photo by Sam Horine/Gothamist)

In 2013, the Squibb Park Pedestrian Bridge was opened, connecting Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park and DUMBO. The Park has been vastly developed in the preceding years, with more visitors and foot traffic throughout—while the bridge didn't save much time, it was a nicer way to get from point A to point B. But despite the $5 million that went into building it, and celebrated chief engineer and bridge designer Ted Zoli (of HNTB Corporation) being the one to design it... the bridge failed. By the summer of 2014, the bridge abruptly closed, and has remained closed since.

This morning learned that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has not only fired Zoli and HNTB, but is suing HNTB Corporation and HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture, P.C. The lawsuit, which you can see in full below, was filed today. It reveals that "The Bridge design was defective. The Bridge was unstable and became deformed. The defective design of the Bridge endangered the public. As a result of the defective design, BBP had to close the Bridge less than l8 months after it was first opened to the public."

They are suing for damages including the cost of redesign and repair of the bridge. The suit states, in part, that BBP is seeking "an amount to be determined at trial, but not less than $3 million." Worst pedestrian bridge EVER?



(Jen Carlson/Gothamist)

Update: Here is a statement from Belinda Cape, spokesperson for BBP:

"Today we filed a lawsuit seeking recovery of all repair costs from HNTB Corporation. After working with the firm to reopen Squibb Park Bridge over the past 16 months, it has become clear that the firm was either unwilling or unable to provide a workable solution to fix the bridge, and that its design was inherently flawed. Our new engineer of record, ARUP, will now work with NYC DOT's Division of Bridges to design and oversee implementation of a plan to complete stabilization of the bridge. Through this new course of action, our goals remain the same: to recoup costs related to HNTB's professional failures, and, most importantly, to safely reopen this vital connection to the park. We are doing everything we can to make sure parkgoers have the bridge they've been promised."

BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK CORPORATION vs HNTB CORPORATION, HNTB NE\ry YORK ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE, P.C.