Dozens of LIRR bridges are at a 'critical point of deterioration.' Only a fraction are scheduled for repairs

The MTA says about 80 Long Island Rail Road bridges, tunnels and other structures are "at a critical point of deterioration" and in need of significant repairs, but it has plans to carry out major fixes to fewer than a dozen of those, according to agency documents and officials.

Although 14% of the LIRR's nearly 600 "line structures" — bridges, viaducts and tunnels — are deemed in "poor or marginal" condition, MTA officials and outside engineering experts agreed that does not mean they are not safe.

Maria Lehman, president emeritus of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said the number of LIRR bridges in need of major repairs reflects a failure by government to adequately invest in its infrastructure for generations. That can lead to higher repair costs in the long-term.

"I don't think it's neglect. I think it was a lack of political will to make the investments that needed to happen, because maintenance doesn't have a ribbon-cutting," said Lehman, who applauded an MTA plan to step-up maintenance. "If you own a house and you have a leaky roof, you ... do a minor repair as soon as you can. You don't wait until the drywall is falling on your head and you need to replace the whole roof."

For too long, Lehman said, government leaders’ response has been: "It’s just a little leak. I'll put a bucket there."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s recently released infrastructure plan for 2025 to 2029 includes $601 million of its nearly $69 billion budget to address aging LIRR bridges. The plan specifies only two bridges as candidates for major replacement and rehabilitation work: the 36-year-old Wreck Lead rail drawbridge in Long Beach, and a 120-year-old rail bridge over Queens Boulevard in Woodside, Queens.

The capital plan also outlines major fixes to a viaduct in Jamaica, another in Babylon, and a tunnel in Brooklyn. MTA spokesman David Steckel said the structures identified in the plan "are just a start and many more locations will be addressed." He said about 11 structures will be rebuilt or rehabilitated in the plan, although "the precise locations are still being determined."

Another 40 bridges would be repainted, and five more would undergo drainage and waterproofing work, according to Steckel. The MTA has said that by limiting the exposure of steel to the elements, painting and waterproofing can slow down deterioration of bridges and prevent more expensive repairs.

But the total number of LIRR structures in line for some attention in the MTA’s next capital plan stills makes up a fraction of those in need, according to the transit authority’s own analysis. An MTA report released in September points out that about 80 LIRR bridges and viaducts are "at a critical point of deterioration" and "need significant repair."

The MTA's 20 Year Needs Assessment, released last year, says 13% of the LIRR’s 504 undergrade bridges and 19% of the LIRR’s 56 overgrade bridges are in "poor/marginal" structural condition. Undergrade bridges carry LIRR trains over roadways, whereas overgrade bridges carry vehicular traffic over the LIRR's tracks.

About a quarter of the LIRR’s 29 viaducts — long, elevated structures on which LIRR trains travel — are also in poor/marginal condition, as are three of the LIRR's four tunnels.

Even structures in better condition are in need of work, according to the 2023 report, which said that 69% of LIRR undergrade bridges should be painted and/or waterproofed. 

MTA officials would not provide a full list of the bridges and other structures it has identified as needing attention.

LIRR stands by maintenance

In an interview, LIRR President Robert Free stood by the transit authority’s bridge maintenance efforts and cautioned against making too much of the low ratings for some structures.

"I don’t know that I would say they’re not in good condition. They get inspected regularly. They’re safe. They’re good for usage," Free told Newsday. "I’d say, overall, we’re doing a good job of maintaining our system."

Authority spokesman Steckel said bridges are regularly inspected and "safe for our customers."

"Flagging a bridge for poor condition does not mean it’s unsound. That’s why we have a needs assessment: to identify assets that need investment before they become unsafe, not after," MTA construction and development chief Jamie Torres-Springer said in a statement.

Steckel noted the last $601 million in the capital plan committed to LIRR structures like bridges, viaducts and tunnels is a big increase from the $344 million the MTA spent in its 2020-24 infrastructure budget.

Asked about the scope of LIRR bridge repairs in the proposed budget, Steckel in a statement said, given the backlog of work needed to maintain the transit system: "We cannot realistically propose that we do all projects in any one program."

"What we can do is pick up the pace and move us toward a state of good repair, and that’s exactly what we are proposing to do," Steckel said.

Looking for money

The MTA has yet to figure out how it will pay for its next $68.4 billion capital program — the largest in the authority’s history. While the overwhelming amount focuses on "state of good repair" maintenance, the budget also sets aside large sums for expansion efforts, including $2.75 billion for the proposed Interborough Express light rail system in Queens and Brooklyn. The MTA’s forthcoming congestion pricing tolling plan is intended to generate revenue only for the MTA’s current 2020-24 capital program, and not its next one.

Marc Herbst, Suffolk County’s representative on the MTA Board and the executive director of the Long Island Contractors Association — a construction trade group — said the fact 80 LIRR bridges and other structures are, by the MTA’s own assessment, in critical need of repairs does not represent "extraordinary circumstances." He said the MTA uses a national standard in its assessments, and that being in poor or marginal condition could reflect cosmetic issues like rust, and not safety problems.

Herbst agreed with how the MTA is prioritizing its capital budget.

"I think we’re moving in the right direction," Herbst said. "As a person in the infrastructure and construction industry, I’d like to do it all at once. But, realistically, the money is not there to do that." 

The MTA's proposed capital program offers some details of the assessment that went into deciding what structures will be first in line for fixes. It considers factors like train frequency, load rating and incidents of trucks striking bridges.

In assessing 80% of LIRR structures as being in poor or marginal condition, the MTA used a Federal Transit Administration 1-5 rating system, by which bridges with an inspection rating of 1-3 are deemed "poor" and bridges with an inspection rating of 4 are considered "marginal," Steckel said.

Professor Rigoberto Burgueño, chairman of the civil engineering department at Stony Brook University, said he trusts that the LIRR would not keep a bridge in service if it were on the verge of structural failure, both because of the safety risk it would pose to the public and the broader economic ramifications of the LIRR losing one of its routes. He pointed to "dramatic bridge failures" in recent years, including the collapse of a span in Pittsburgh in January 2022 that investigators blamed on inadequate maintenance and a Baltimore bridge that came down after being struck by a container ship.

Burgueño said much of the infrastructure throughout the 190-year-old LIRR was "not designed to be in service for this long," and that increased train traffic, pollution and extreme weather have only accelerated its deterioration. So the MTA must be vigilant about keeping its structures in acceptable condition, he said.

"We cannot keep on building new. We need to maintain what we have," Burgueño said. "And whatever we build needs to last longer."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.