Tappan Zee Bridge hits milestone; still on budget
New Tappan Zee Bridge project manager: "If you’re out there you can see a lot of progress has been happening."
Crews working on the new Tappan Zee Bridge project are done installing girders on its south span. For now.
All that's left for the south span girders — the big, blue masses of steel that will eventually support the road deck — are connections over the main span and to landings on either shore.
The latter work is ongoing and crews also continue working to install the cable stays.
As for the landings, the south span will not be able to connect with either the Westchester or Rockland shores until the old bridge is demolished.
According to officials, the $3.9 billion, 3-mile long bridge is still slated to be finished by the end of summer 2018.
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“I am pleased to report that the bridge is on budget and that the work is progressing as expected," said Jamey Barbas, project manager for the new bridge, at a New York State Thruway Authority meeting this week. "If you’re out there you can see a lot of progress has been happening.”
Barbas said workers had put up more than a dozen of the 192 cables since installation began in late July. The cables will be hung from the bridge's 419-foot main span towers and give the bridge its cable-stayed structure while holding up the main span.
“Of course, the first few take a learning curve, but we’re starting to increase that production," said Barbas.
Demolition of the old bridge will begin in either 2017 or 2018, according to officials from Tappan Zee Constructors, the group of contractors tasked with designing and building the bridge. The strategy, they said, is to take it apart in as large pieces as possible with the help of the I Lift NY supercrane, currently being used to place the girders.
The steel and concrete from the existing bridge will be melted down, pulverized and recycled. Officials have not determined whether the asphalt from the existing bridge can be recycled.
When the bridge opens to traffic in mid-2017, all vehicles will initially go over the north span, which will have eight lanes on a preliminary basis. Once the south span is complete, sometime in 2018, traffic will be split.
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