With the mercury gradually moving above the 50-degree mark, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC is gearing up for what will be a busy season in the third year of construction on the bridge replacement project.
Because of inclement weather this winter, two months of construction work was limited to the shorelines on either side of the Hudson River. There, crews assembled the landing foundations that will connect the roadway with the new bridge.
Tarrytown-based Tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium that is leading the design and building of the bridge, has spent about $1.8 billion on contracts, according to data from the New York State Thruway Authority. The consortium”™s fixed contract with the Thruway Authority to design and build is $3.142 billion, but total costs, with items such as oversight expenses, are estimated to be $3.9 billion.
A breakdown of the $1.8 billion spent includes $757 million on permanent materials such as steel and concrete, $752 million on subcontractors and $319 million on indirect expenses like insurance and legal fees.
- A breakdown of construction costs.
Tappan Zee Constructors has so far hired 552 New York firms or vendors to help with the project. Of those, 155 are in Westchester County, just three shy of the total 158 companies contracted from New York City and Rockland and Orange counties.
Funding for the bridge includes bonds issued by the Thruway Authority and a long-term, low-interest $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo also sent the Thruway Authority $1.3 billion to keep tolls down throughout the state and support construction of the bridge, he announced in January.
In order to secure federal funding for the project, Tappan Zee Constructors has to devote part of its budget to hiring minority, women, disabled or veteran-owned small businesses through a federal program called Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.
The consortium set a goal of spending $314 million on the DBE program, or 10 percent of the fixed contract. So far, it has signed contracts worth $149.2 million of that goal to 93 certified DBE companies.
In the coming warm months, commuters crossing the bridge can expect to see concrete and steel parts going into place.
“This year, residents will see more and more vertical piers rising out of the Hudson River and the massive I Lift NY supercrane setting huge prefabricated sections of the new bridge, saving both time and money while enhancing project quality and safety,” Brian Conybeare, special adviser to the governor on the bridge project, said in a statement.
Looming next to the bridge that connects Rockland and Westchester counties is the red and white boon of the I Lift NY crane, which recently completed its first official job in late April. The supercrane, which arrived via barge to the site last October, lifted a 600-ton concrete pile cap into place, a process that lasted three-and-a-half hours. Its future tasks will include hoisting other sections of the main spans, like steel beams, and will eventually help deconstruct the old bridge.
According to officials, construction is still on schedule, which puts the first span”™s completion date around December 2016 with the second span expected to be finished about a year later.
