3.1 miles of bridge does not equal 3.1 miles of on grade highway. In fact, it’s not even close. In order to build the new New York Bridge, which is replacing the existing Tappan Zee bridge that crosses the Hudson River, 14 miles of main span cables, 50 miles of foundation pilings, 300 thousand cubic yards of concrete, and 220 million pounds of steel are needed to complete the structure. Oh, it’s also going to take another 2 years to build, on top of the 3 they’ve already been working on it.
The existing Tappan Zee Bridge was built in 1955 and handles around 138,000 vehicles per day. After realizing that, it’s even more amazing that no cars were hit when a crane, which was working on the new bridge adjacent to the existing, collapsed onto the existing bridge back in July. Without the added danger of nearby construction, the Tappan Zee was already a hazard by itself. According to the New NY Bridge’s website, that stretch of road was the scene of an average of twice as many accidents as the rest of the NY Thruway system, which is a collection of highways. It has narrow lanes and no emergency shoulders, which can be a recipe for disaster.
The new bridge will contain 8 wider lanes for safer and quicker traffic, not including the emergency lanes, and has also been designed to handle a future commuter rail. Pedestrians and bicyclists will also have their own lane to cross the river safely. In total, the bridge will cost almost $4 billion dollars (3.98 to be exact) and will finish sometime in 2018. We’re sure the NY drivers can’t wait until it’s complete.
Many companies were involved in the design and construction of this bridge, which together are known as the Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC. Companies in the group include Flour, American Bridge, Granite, Taylor Bros, HDR, Buckland & Taylor, URS, and GZA.
The video below was shared by the New NY Bridge on Youtube:
