New York City Department of Transportation

Improvements Needed in Emergency Bridge Repair Program (Follow-Up Review)

The New York City Department of Transportation Bridge and Roadway Division designs, inspects, constructs, repairs and maintains the City's 769 bridges and connected roadway system. When mandated bridge inspections find problems, inspectors issue hazardous condition reports, called flags, for the defective structures, and the Division is required to correct these problems within specified time frames. The Division assigns flags to in-house repair units and outside contractors. Our prior audit, 96-N-14, found there were delays in making emergency repairs to bridges, and that many repairs did not address the underlying causes of the flags. We recommended the Department develop a comprehensive plan to resolve flags timely, strengthen controls over flag monitoring and consider estimating repair costs during the inspection process. Our follow-up review found the Department has taken steps to implement two of the four recommendations.

For a complete copy of Report 99-F-51 click here.