Archives for September 2013

Bridge Construction Continues

September 28, 2013 by

new

For immediate release: September 27, 2013

NEW NY BRIDGE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES CONTINUE

Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC will continue the construction of the Rockland County trestle.
This work will include daytime pile driving to install the temporary foundation piles needed to support the platform. Pile driving will be limited to the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and, occasionally, from 12 noon to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. The trestle is a work platform that will support a crane for the construction of the westernmost section of the new bridge. The 1200-foot long platform helps reduce the amount of dredging required.

Impact pile driving will also continue as part of the ongoing test pile program and will continue through October at various locations for future pile foundations during the same timeframe as above.

>From Tuesday, October 1 to Thursday, October 3, one northbound right hand lane and shoulder on I-87/I-287 between exit 9 and the Tappan Zee Bridge will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for utility location testing. One northbound right hand lane and shoulder on I-87/I-287 in the vicinity of exit 10 will be closed on Wednesday, October 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for catch basin repair.

Additionally, utility work will continue on River Road in South Nyack. This work will continue through November and will involve reducing the roadway to one lane during daytime hours. During non-work hours, the road will have temporary coverings in place that may create uneven driving surfaces. Motorists and bicyclists should slow down and use extreme caution in the area.

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a revised Notice to Mariners with updated safety information, including the establishment of a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) 300 yards north and 200 yards south of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge. All boaters are required to use the main channel, reduce wake and use extreme caution while transiting the area.

If necessary, the Coast Guard in the future may temporarily prohibit all vessel traffic in the RNA for safety purposes.

The Coast Guard boating safety information can be found on the project website, NewNYBridge.com, under the boating safety icon.

Ongoing operations:
•Dredging operations will continue 24/7
•Test pile program
•Rockland Dock Extension under existing bridge
•Temporary Rockland trestle construction including pile driving on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
•Temporary Westchester trestle construction including pile driving on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
•Survey inspections on existing bridge
•Support for river-based work from the Rockland shoreline

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Original Tappan Zee Bridge parts will be salvaged for other projects

September 20, 2013 by
Written by: Khurram Saeed; Twitter: @ksaeed1

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Though the Tappan Zee Bridge is destined for demolition in a few years, some of its  parts and equipment may find new life elsewhere.

The state Thruway Authority intends to save elements of the bridge when it’s torn down in 2017 to make way for its $3.9 billion replacement. The authority has provided a  list of  materials to be saved in its contract with Tappan Zee Constructors, the team designing and building the new crossing.

The list includes  150 concrete deck panel units from the bridge’s causeway; 15,000 feet of steel barrier installed on them; the movable barrier and the machines that shift it; the bridge’s necklace lighting; light stanchions; fiber-optic cables and other equipment.

“Anything that can be salvaged by others will be salvaged,” said Ted Nadratowski, the Thruway’s interim director of maintenance and operations.

The elements will be used for other Thruway projects. Nadratowski said the precast deck panels, for example, could be shortened and used as small culverts on the Thruway.

Recent rehabilitation work includes $385 million to replace much of the road deck on the Tappan Zee since 2007. The project is largely complete and is expected to wrap up by the end of this month, Nadratowski said.

Reusing some of the old bridge was a good idea, said Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, D-Mount Pleasant.

“The old adage of reduce, reuse and recycle applies here,” he said.

Abinanti said he was “disappointed” that Thruway officials didn’t put more emphasis on finding another use for the bridge. He was among those who pitched the idea of using the old bridge as a park. But that wouldn’t be possible since the new southern span will meet land where the current bridge sits.

Still, he suggested part of the bridge could have been reused or the landing redesigned to incorporate fishing piers or some amenity for the public.

“They never did a serious study of how can you use the existing structure in some way, shape or form,” Abinanti said. “I like the idea of reusing it any way you can.”

http://www.lohud.com/article/20130919/NEWS02/309170068

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , ,

Regulators release Hudson River restoration plan

September 20, 2013 by
Written by : Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — A draft plan released by state regulators on Tuesday will guide efforts to restore and protect the Hudson River Estuary from the Troy dam to the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The Department of Environmental Conservation is taking public comment on the plan until the end of October and is holding public information sessions Wednesday afternoon at Margaret Norrie State Park in Staatsburg and Sept. 24 at Columbia Greene Community College in Hudson.

The plan identifies four priority habitats for restoration: tidal wetlands, shallows, shorelines and tributaries. It says those habitats are important to the overall health of the ecosystem but have been degraded or destroyed on a large scale by development.

About half the estuary’s shoreline remains in a natural state, but the rest has been engineered with walls and other structures to protect property or support transportation, recreation or industrial activities.

Besides harming wildlife, loss of shoreline wetlands and shallows has made riverside communities more vulnerable to flooding by removing natural barriers that protect against weather extremes and rapid sea level rise, authorities said.

“Restoration of healthy habitats will provide benefits for fish, birds, turtles, crabs, mammals and invertebrate animals and to the residents of the Hudson River Valley and the state of New York,” DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said in a prepared statement.

Habitats in the estuary, which is tidal up to the federal dam at Troy, have been damaged since the early 1800s by navigational dredging, filling of wetlands, construction of the railroad along sensitive shoreline habitats and construction of dams in tributaries.

The habitat restoration plan is intended to be used by community groups, governments, scientists and conservation organizations.

Restoration actions identified in the plan include dam removal and culvert improvement in tributaries to promote fish passage; invasive-species control programs; preservation of existing shore land habitat; and use of environmentally sound methods of shoreline stabilization where necessary to protect property.

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , ,

TZ Construction to Begin On River Road, S Nyack

September 7, 2013 by

new

For immediate release: September 6, 2013

UTILITY WORK BEGINS ON RIVER ROAD

Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC will begin utility work on River Road in South Nyack the week of Sept. 9. This work will continue through November and will involve reducing the roadway to one lane during daytime hours. During off hours the road will have temporary coverings in place that may create uneven driving surfaces. Motorists and bicyclists should slow down and use caution in the area.

Construction of the Rockland County trestle will continue and include daytime pile driving to install the temporary foundation piles needed to support the platform. Pile driving will be limited to a maximum of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and, occasionally, from 12 noon to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. The trestle is a work platform that will support a crane for the construction of the westernmost section of the new bridge. The 1200-foot long platform helps reduce the amount of dredging required.

Impact pile driving will continue as part of the ongoing test pile program and will continue through October at various locations for future pile foundations during the same timeframe as above. The test pile program will verify subsurface conditions and test structural load capacities in preparation for construction of the new bridge’s permanent foundation.

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a revised Notice to Mariners with updated safety information, including a request that boaters use the main channel, reduce wake and use extreme caution while transiting the area in the vicinity of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The Coast Guard boating safety information can be found on the project website, NewNYBridge.com, under the boating safety icon.

On Monday, Sept. 9, and Tuesday, Sept. 10, one southbound right hand lane and shoulder on I-87/I-287 between exit 11 and the Tappan Zee Bridge will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for shoulder work. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, and Thursday, Sept. 12, one northbound right hand lane and shoulder on I-87/I-287 between exit 8 and exit 9 will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. for shoulder work.

Ongoing operations:
• Dredging operations will continue 24/7
• Test pile program
• Rockland bulkhead construction and Dock Extension at Rockland under existing bridge
• Temporary Rockland trestle construction including pile driving on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Temporary Westchester trestle construction including pile driving on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Survey inspections on existing bridge
• Mobilization at the exit 10 staging area
• Support for river-based work from the Rockland shoreline

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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