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Archives for April 2015
The New NY Bridge Newsletter for May 2015
SUPER CRANE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES FIRST LIFT ON
NEW NY BRIDGE PROJECT
I LIFT NY hoists massive 600-ton foundation element into place today
One of the world’s largest floating cranes this morning successfully completed the first of many enormous lifts for the New NY Bridge project, following months of planning and preparation.
In a carefully coordinated three-and-a-half hour operation on the Hudson River between Westchester and Rockland counties, the I Lift NY super crane hoisted and set one of the project’s largest precast concrete pile caps weighing in at 600 tons.
Video and photos from today’s lift will be posted here.
“We brought in the I Lift NY super crane to reduce construction time and cost, and this first lift is another symbol that the New NY Bridge is officially on the way,” Thruway Acting Executive Director Robert L. Megna. “The crane is a key tool to building the bridge in a safer, more cost-effective, environmentally-friendly way. With savings of more than a billion dollars for tollpayers, this super crane will continue to do great work.”
Owned by Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC, the design-build contractor for the New York State Thruway Authority, the super crane’s extraordinary capabilities save time and money while enhancing quality and safety by allowing large sections of the bridge to be pre-fabricated off-site and shipped by barge to the construction zone.
I Lift NY will continue to lift and place sections of the new twin-span bridge some weighing from 900 to 1,100 tons and will assist with the dismantling of the existing 60-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge, reducing costs and shortening the deconstruction process.
The super crane’s boom is 328 feet tall, which is taller than a 30-story building, and can lift up to 1,900 tons, or the equivalent of 12 Statues of Liberty, at once. Despite its enormity, the barge-mounted crane sits high in the water, thereby reducing the need for dredging on the project by 50 percent.
The I Lift NY super crane made a 6,000-mile journey from the San Francisco Bay area in 2014, passing through the Panama Canal.
Since its arrival here in New York, the crane has gone through months of testing, modifications and upgrades including a new high-tech computer operating system and complete replacement of its rigging cables. The most experienced operating engineers in the area also spent months of specialized training to carefully handle this massive machine. Now that the ice has cleared on the Hudson River, the I Lift NY crane is getting to work on the pile caps and later this year will begin placing the even heavier structural steel beams that will carry the road deck across the new spans.
New NY Bridge Progress
Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership and with the support of President Barack Obama and the Federal government, the New NY Bridge project has progressed dramatically since construction began in October 2013 following many years of delay. Since October 2011, steps forward include: enactment of new design-build legislation; review and completion of concurrent environmental review and procurement processes; negotiation of a project labor agreement with construction unions; and recommendation from a panel of local leaders and transportation experts for a comprehensive plan for mass transit options for the region all with an unprecedented level of transparency and community involvement.
About the New NY Bridge
The New NY Bridge’s eight traffic lanes, four breakdown and emergency lanes, and state-of-the-art traffic monitoring systems will mean less congestion for motorists. Designed and constructed to be mass-transit-ready, the new crossing will be able to accommodate bus rapid transit, as well as light rail or commuter rail. The bridge will also include a bike and pedestrian shared-use path. Extensive measures are in place throughout the duration of the project to protect the environment and to monitor the impact of construction on surrounding communities.
I LIFT NY SUPER CRANE SPECIFICATIONS
Type of vessel: Floating Sheerleg Crane
Propulsion: None
Hull material: Steel
Lifting capacity: 1,929 tons
Length: 384 feet
Breadth: 99.8 feet
Depth: 22 feet
Boom length: 328.08 feet
Boom width: 65.7 feet
Min. boom angle for transport: 4 degrees
Min. boom angle for lifting: 19 degrees
Max. boom angle for lifting: 67 degrees
For more information or for photos and video of the I Lift NY super crane’s first lift, go to www.NewNYBridge.com
Tappan Zee viewing area in Nyack could open in June
NYACK – Rockland residents will have to wait a couple of more months to get an up-close look of the new Tappan Zee Bridge getting built.
Construction crews this week will begin mobilizing equipment at Memorial Park in Nyack to build a new fishing pier that will house the viewing area.
The 90-foot-long by 30-foot-wide pier should be ready by mid-June, Nyack Village Administrator Jim Politi said.
The observation area at the end of the pier will feature several information panels about the $3.9 billion replacement project and the equipment being used. High-powered telescopes will provide an intimate look at what promises to be an extremely busy construction season.
While the official viewing site in Tarrytown’s RiverWalk Park opened last October, Nyack has run into problems that have led to delays.
Village officials had hoped the rebuilt pier would be ready to open last December.
“It took us three tries to find someone to put the pilings in,” Politi said of the project’s critical foundational element.
Politi said larger companies were too busy and perhaps the work was viewed as too small but all that bidding and rebidding added weeks, if not months, to the $200,000 rebuild of an old fishing pier, which received $150,000 from the state and $50,000 in Tappan Zee community fund money.
Soon after pile driving began at end of August, the project ran into another snag.
Crews installing the 40-foot-long wood piles hit a concrete barge buried along the shore.
“We had to figure out how to get through that,” Politi said.
Nyack Mayor Jen Laird-White turned to the state Thruway Authority for advice, and Tony Canale, one of the geotechnical engineers hired for the Tappan Zee project, helped come up with a solution. Canale lives in Yonkers and teaches a graduate course on foundation engineering at Manhattan College.
“We were happy to utilize some the world-class engineering expertise on the New NY Bridge project to help the village of Nyack with their new fishing pier,” said Brian Conybeare, adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the project.
With the piles now all in, the custom-made deck, wood railings, tables, benches, lighting and Tappan Zee-related materials remain to be installed.
Politi estimates that work will take the contractor, Ingannamorte and Sons of Tenalfy, N.J., six to eight weeks to complete.
By early summer, he said visitors and Tappan Zee watchers will have a place to “fish or sit and relax” with a “wonderful view” of the rising bridge.
Conybeare said the viewing platform will offer residents “a first-hand look at the historic project unfolding on the Hudson River right in their backyard.”
Twitter: @ksaeed1
If you go
The Westchester viewing platform for Tappan Zee Bridge construction is located at Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park, 157 W. Main St., Tarrytown.
Thruway Authority Discussions with South Nyack Making Progress on Bike/Pedestrian Path Parking
For immediate release: April 6, 2015
Contact: Brian Conybeare 845-705-3302
Thruway Authority Discussions with South Nyack Making Progress on Bike/Pedestrian Path Parking
New York State Thruway Authority Acting Executive Director Robert Megna today announced that renewed discussions with the Village of South Nyack on parking options for the New NY Bridge project’s shared-use bike/pedestrian path (SUP) in Rockland County are progressing.
The Thruway Authority and Federal Highway Administration are undertaking an Environmental Assessment to study the parking options generated by the public and other stakeholders. Formal public hearings will be held as part of the process, once a draft Environmental Assessment is complete.
“The renewed talks with South Nyack are making substantial progress,” said Acting Thruway Authority Executive Director Robert Megna. “We want to continue working proactively with Mayor Bonnie Christian and the South Nyack Tappan Zee Bridge Task Force to find solutions for the shared-use path, parking areas and connectivity to the community that will work for all the parties involved while protecting New York taxpayers and tollpayers at the same time.”
“We continue working together on the location of the shared-use path and hopefully we will be able to come to an agreement that benefits the residents of South Nyack, the Thruway Authority and the people who will use the path in the future,” said South Nyack Mayor Bonnie Christian.
The New NY Bridge Community Benefits Program has approved a $250,000 grant for the Village of S. Nyack to study the feasibility of redesigning and redeveloping interchange 10 on I-87/287. The village is now considering several proposals from engineering firms to design and recommend economically sustainable redevelopment concepts.
The Thruway Authority and the village have agreed to continue working on these issues together as the New NY Bridge project moves forward.
For more information on the SUP parking options currently being studied in both S. Nyack and Tarrytown: http://www.newnybridge.com/documents/sup/index.html
The New NY Bridge April 2015 Newsletter
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Remobilizing on the Hudson River As the Lower Hudson Valley thaws out from a particularly punishing winter, the hardworking men and women of the New NY Bridge project are remobilizing on the river. |
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While frigid weather conditions have limited river work in recent weeks, Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) has been forging ahead with the parts of the bridge that anchor it to the land: the abutments. Located at each end of the crossing, the stout abutments will serve as solid foundations for the bridge and the land-side highway.
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On Feb. 28, the New NY Bridge (NNYB) project educational outreach team met with Girl Scout troops from Greenburgh and Elmsford to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
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The construction of river crossings present an engineering challenge: how to build in the water?.
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