Workers on the New NY Bridge project are making swift progress installing steel girders thanks, in part, to recent good weather.
Building on preparations made over the winter, the men and women behind the project installed approximately 1,400 feet of girders in just over a week.
The project’s many teams worked in a highly choreographed manner to place the structural steel, which will support the road deck.
As the crew of the I Lift NY super crane installed components on the new bridge’s towers, other teams prepared materials for the machine’s structural steel operations. Ironworkers at the project’s Port of Coeymans facility connected 12-foot-tall girders into massive “assemblies.” Each assembly is a structure in its own right, measuring hundreds of feet in length and weighing as much as 1,100 tons. After being connected, the assemblies made a 100-mile journey downriver to reach the project site.
To date, approximately 60,000 tons of structural steel have been installed. The I Lift NY super crane has done the heavy lifting as it’s the only machine on the project capable of raising the girder assemblies. Each lift was carefully planned and engineered well in advance of the operation, ensuring they proceeded safely and efficiently.
Operating engineers from Locals 825 and 137 contributed to the work, as did ironworkers from Local 40. The ironworkers scaled the project’s towering concrete piers as the super crane lowered the assemblies into place, helping connect the steel to the other bridge elements.
“Our first job is safety,” said Dan McNichol, Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC) lead engineer for the operation. “Every lift, every move I Lift NY makes is precisely planned and thoroughly checked. We review plans as a team to make sure nothing is taken for granted.”
As of March 2016, TZC has successfully installed more than one third of the bridge’s structural steel, with more assemblies of girders already in production.
TZC Project Executive Terry Towle said, “We’re building a bridge across a challenging river, moving thousands of tons of steel with speed and precision. Everyone involved in this project is a hero in my book.”
