Happy Anniversary to Six Years of Blogging

They look so close to each other, stay cables and the cantilever truss structure. That’s what I thought driving home as cars well above the speed limit passed me.

The day was a break from a difficult week, a chance to disconnect temporarily. I’ve been covering this project for the past seven years, blogging about it for six, and sometimes include personal posts. I need to write, It keeps me going.

Obama fast-tracked the TZB project/© Janie Rosman 2014

Seeing President Obama, even from afar, when he came to Tarrytown five years ago, was a highlight as were watching the super crane place the first steel girder assembly and walking on the westbound span opening day ceremonies and freezing my bum during the topping off ceremony for the main span towers.

Governor Cuomo and your intrepid reporter/Phil Little

And the boat trips and umpteen photos and meeting the governor who, initially surprised and maybe wondering what the gutsy reporter walking toward him would ask or say, was friendly and seemed relieved no questions were asked. It was my intent to introduce myself, and as he stood there alone, I took the opportunity.

A favorite souvenir is the tiny, heavy sample from the new structure that keeps the papers on my desk from rearranging themselves when the window’s open.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2019

Five Years Ago Today: the Super Crane Arrived

Courtesy of Phil Little

Will Van Dorp, professor at Union County College in New Jersey, met the I Lift NY this very cold morning as it arrived from the West Coast at our very own Port Jersey Facility – The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – escorted by tug boats Lauren Foss and Iver Foss. after docking at a private facility in Jersey City, it will stay put until it comes north to the Tappan Zee Bridge this spring.

Excitement, cameras, and (perhaps) a sigh of relief — it’s finally here — greeted the I Lift NY‘s arrival two days ago. I’m guessing the relief part.

Nowhere among the day’s pictures did I see any like the first three snapped by waterblogger Will Van Dorp; he captured I Lift NY‘s approach on the aquatic horizon, led by tugboat Lauren Foss, adding drama to suspense. Tugboat Iver Foss followed.

A New York state of mind is also apparent in these pictures taken by photographer Phil Little with the Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty background.

Sunlight bathed the Tappan Zee bridge shortly before the I Lift NY’s arrival at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey./EarthCam® construction camera in Tarrytown

Correction: Two weeks ago prior to the original post I said the crane, owned by Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) was renamed. It wasn’t. It was dubbed, nicknamed. Long ago and far away, it was christened the “Left Coast Lifter” for its work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge construction project. That was then, this is now.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2019

ICYMI: Building Bridges: New York Increases Infrastructure Plans

Tarrytown, N.Y. – During a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Hudson Valley’s newest bridge last August, Gov. Andrew Cuomo noted the state’s projects. “I believe our mojo is back. Our confidence is back, our energy is back, and we know and we have proven that there is nothing that we can’t do when we work together.”

The $1 trillion promise made by Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign was also on the governor’s mind. “So far, nothing has materialized,” Cuomo said, one day before the westbound span of the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, named after his late father, opened immediately north of the Tappan Zee Bridge it replaces. “But New York is not waiting for the federal government.”

Acknowledging deficient infrastructure exacerbated by dwindling money to repair or replace it – and now in office little more than one year – President Trump presented instead a $1.5 trillion infrastructure spending plan, a $200 billion package that shifts financial burden onto states and private investors during the next 10 years.

A $100 billion infrastructure plan outlined in Cuomo’s 2016 agenda includes modernizing several airports, building a new LaGuardia Airport, increasing the capacity of public transportation, renovating Penn Station, expanding the Javits Convention Center in New York City, and investing in roads, bridges and tunnels.

“There’s one word: commitment,” New York State Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll says. “It goes without saying there are a lot of infrastructure challenges, and we’re working closely with federal partners (and) our Congressional delegation.”

Equally important, Driscoll notes, are the 2,500 local-level projects across the state. “These are very important to local economies and transportation needs, and while it’s a big undertaking, the resources are there.”

Cuomo focused on replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge after talks in 1999 to include it in a 30-mile improvement project along Interstate 287 stalled for the next 10 years. Nearly 140,000 vehicles crossed the 3.1-mile Tappan Zee Bridge at one of the Hudson River’s widest points daily; the river was visible through cracks in the pavement even with the Thruway Authority’s recent deck replacement program that began in 2007 and continued into 2013.

“At times you can see the river through the cracks of the pavement,” then-President Barack Obama said about the Tappan Zee during a May 2014 visit to the Hudson Valley. “Now, I’m not an engineer, but I figure that’s not good.”

Key elements that determine the status of a bridge are its deck or its superstructure (above the deck) or the supports beneath the deck. Ratings are based upon biennial bridge inspections; state and local governments submit the data to the Federal Highway Administration as part of the National Bridge Inventory. “Not every bridge that gets fixed is structurally deficient,” American Road & Transportation Builders Association Economist Alison Premo Black says.

ARTBA reports the average age of a structurally deficient bridge is 67 years, compared to 40 years for non-deficient bridges; states have identified needed repairs on nearly one-third of U.S. bridges. The Tappan Zee Bridge was retired in early October, two months short of its 62nd birthday.

With support from Obama and the U.S. Department of Transportation through design-build legislation signed by Cuomo in December 2011 and a fast-tracked federal environmental review and procurement process, the Empire State’s bridge replacement project (named the New NY Bridge Project) forged ahead in early 2012 when the state released its Request for Proposals.

“Design-build ignites the private sector’s ability to innovate,” Driscoll says. “It’s worked well at the state level, too, as the Department of Transportation has completed projects with design-build. It’s more cost-effective and accelerates efforts.”

When a team is hired together, it can order supplies in advance, especially if there’s a shortage of materials and a six- to eight-week window before materials arrive. “This allows them to innovate and discuss what will and won’t work early on. For example, an architect may suggest something that is too expensive for a plumber to deliver on budget,” explains Lisa Washington, executive director and CEO at Design-Build Institute of America in Washington.

Consortium Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) won the $3.98 billion contract thanks to its massive crane, the Left Coast Lifter (nicknamed I Lift NY) that reduced dredging needs by 50 percent and saved New York $1 billion. The projected cost was originally expected to exceed $5 billion. With the ability to lift 12 Statues of Liberty, the crane is hoisting and placing sections of steel and concrete onto the new bridge and is helping dismantle the old bridge. Its two moveable barriers and 133 of its deck panels will be sent to other state and local municipalities.

“Engineering professionals involved in project delivery, who regularly evaluate mistakes that make it from design to construction, observed around 80 percent of errors are created when the source engineering data is communicated through traditional plans sheets,” says Danny Kahler, principal at Kahler Engineering Group in Dallas and past chair of American Society of Civil Engineers Digital Project Delivery committee.

TZC is also using building information modeling (BIM), which is “one type of software, among many others, that helps manage the information of design and construction, especially in the vertical market,” Kahler says. “It’s the exploitation of the actual engineering data that has the potential to save time and money.”

The second span of the Cuomo Bridge is slated to open to traffic sometime this year and on budget with eight traffic lanes, four breakdown/emergency lanes, a state-of-the-art traffic monitoring system, a dedicated bus lane, room for future light rail, cashless tolling and LED lighting. Crews will then build the walking/bicycle path the new bridge’s northern span.

While the lower Hudson Valley’s newest bridge is the one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects in the country, it has not been the only one. Two immense projects were the Interstate-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed in 2007 during evening rush hour, and the Pentagon project just outside of the nation’s capital.

Even with harsh winters, the I-35W Bridge was completed in less than one year – three months ahead of schedule – and cost $234 million, excluding contractor bonuses for completing it earlier than planned. “The team committed to building it better and took a limited budget, partnering early on with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and building the bridge for a 100-year life span,” Washington says.

One of the nation’s largest design-build projects – the $1.2 billion, 20-year Pentagon Renovation Program (known as PenRen) – was already underway when the building was attacked on 9/11. Its model jump-started the post-9/11 Phoenix Project, which was launched immediately with a $500 million budget and a goal of reopening the damaged wings before the first anniversary. It was finished 28 days ahead of schedule and nearly $194 million under budget.

While states may have to jockey for federal money, the Empire State is taking the lead with robust plans. For the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, Cuomo believes “it was our New York energy, our New York attitude, it was our New York drive that made it happen.”

My article was originally published in U.S. News & World Report April 2, 2018.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2018

Final Steel Assembly & Removing TZB Roadway

Last week (April 12), the super crane placed the final steel girder assembly on the eastbound span. Crews continue placing additional small, unattached girders near Rockland so the span will connect to land.

The I Lift NY has been installing the blue steel assemblies since June 2015. I was there and saw the massive crane lift the first blue steel assembly from the barge that brought it downriver. Very exciting!

Photos are courtesy of the New York State Thruway Authority. Above, a mobile crane removes pieces of the Tappan Zee Bridge’s roadway. As the super crane ceased work on the new bridge, it will remove sections of the TZB’s large steel truss during the coming week; they’ll be placed on barges and eventually recycled.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2018

Simultaneously Building and Dismantling

You might be planning to take it easy this weekend; however, the super crane will be working on the eastbound span near Westchester. Nearly two-and-one-half years ago, rews installed steel girders across the Metro-North tracks. The girders will connect the Westchester abutment to that span’s land piers Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Metro-North will suspend trains from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday morning. Expect an extra 25-minute delay. For detailed MTA information, click here.

Don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour.

And then there’s the Tappan Zee Bridge or what remains of it per a southeastern view of its piers from Rockland. Photos courtesy of the New York State Thruway Authority.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2018