Bear Mountain Bridge Deck Replacement: $93.8M on a 1924 Landmark

The Bear Mountain Bridge got its last new deck in the 1970s. The next one is a $93.8 million job on a National Historic Landmark.

The New York State Bridge Authority awarded the deck replacement contract in February 2026 to a joint venture of El Sol Contracting and ES II Enterprises, both out of Maspeth, Queens. Notice to proceed came March 30, mobilization followed in April, and crews started work May 1. The schedule runs through the end of 2028.

Project Scope

The contract replaces the concrete deck across the full span and phases the work so the crossing stays open: a preparatory phase, then Phase 1 on the north side, then subsequent phases. Thornton Tomasetti is the design consultant.

The job also adds a steel-mesh climb-deterrent fence. That sounds like a minor item and isn’t. Any addition to a 1924 suspension bridge changes the dead load and the wind profile, so the fence design went through wind tunnel testing before selection to confirm it wouldn’t load the structure past what the original design tolerates. Accessibility improvements are in the same package.

Why It Matters

When it opened in 1924 the Bear Mountain Bridge was the longest suspension span in the world, and it was privately built before the state took it over. Rehabilitating it means working to a landmark standard while meeting current highway loading, which is the bind facing dozens of early suspension bridges across the Northeast.

The phased single-side sequencing is the transferable piece. The Bridge Authority is keeping a Hudson crossing in service through a full deck replacement rather than detouring traffic for two years, and the contractors bidding the next one of these will price against how it goes.

Project Team & Details