Koch Skanska Inc. was awarded a $172 million contract for the Rehabilitation of the Main Spans of the Williamsburg Bridge. The client is the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT). The notice to proceed was given in February 2003. The entire reconstruction effort on this structure consists of nine contracts, of which eight have been let. Koch Skanska also completed contracts number four and six of the overall reconstruction effort.

When the Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 2,793 feet long. It spans the East River between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. Every day the bridge carries over 100,000 vehicles and 90,000 people on the subway. The bridge is included in the reconstruction program for the East River Bridges that started 1982. The program was initiated when it became apparent that the bridges were in such critical condition that NYC DOT either had to reconstruct the bridges or replace them. Due to the historical and architectural value of the structures it was decided to reconstruct them.

During the rehabilitation and seismic retrofitting of the bridge, the 350-ft. tall main towers will be strengthened with 3.3 million lbs. of steel and the intermediate towers will be strengthened with 1.8 million lbs. of steel. The two main stiffening trusses were de-leaded and repainted, totaling approximately 675,000 square feet. The de-leading and repainting had an extremely aggressive schedule requiring completion within six months. Koch scheduled work activities 24 hours a day 7 days a week, in order to meet that goal. The scope of work also included the replacement of the stiffening truss bearings at the anchorages and main towers, top and bottom chord stiffening truss repairs, installation of inspection platforms and maintenance travelers and installation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).