Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Squibb Bridge will remain closed indefinitely

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s perennially plagued Squibb Bridge is going to remain shuttered for longer than expected, the Brooklyn Paper has learned. A routine inspection of the bridge in July revealed a piece of wood in poor condition, which prompted Brooklyn Bridge Park officials to shutter the bridge, which connects Pier 1 to Brooklyn Heights, until a further analysis of the bridge had been completed.

In August, park officials said they had brought on engineers to test out the entire bridge to err on the side of caution, but at that time they weren’t able to provide a concrete timeline for the bridge’s re-opening. Now, almost two months later, park officials still don’t have an answer.

Through their testing and analysis, engineers hired by Brooklyn Bridge Park learned that the original piece of wood that prompted the closure wasn’t the only one that was in poor condition. The crux of the problem is high moisture levels, Eric Landau, the president of Brooklyn Bridge Park, told the Brooklyn Paper. The park specifically chose black locust wood because its supposed to withstand high moisture, but it doesn’t seem to have worked in this case.

Park officials will now have to look for a new solution but Landau told the Brooklyn Paper that he doesn’t have a firm date or a timeline for the bridge’s reopening. Since its first opening in March 2013, the bridge has now remained closed longer than it has been open.

• Bridge to nowhere: Squibb span to Bklyn Bridge Park has no reopening date following latest closure [BP]
• Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Squibb Bridge temporarily shutters for repairs [Curbed]