The New NY Bridge project is one of the first in the nation to require strict diesel emissions standards, improving air quality for the region and its residents.
As Earth Day is observed, New Yorkers literally can breathe easier, knowing that the New NY Bridge project is being built with some of the cleanest construction equipment in the world.
The New York State Thruway Authority is requiring Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) to utilize equipment that adheres to very strict standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which dramatically reduce harmful diesel emissions as compared with earlier machinery. The New NY Bridge project is one of the first in the nation to require such stringent emissions requirements. In addition, the Thruway Authority also included a host of additional measures to ensure clean air for the region’s residents.
As compared with construction equipment of the 1990s, TZC’s equipment produces far fewer harmful emissions. For example, project construction engines that exceed 100 horsepower emit at least 63 percent less particulate matter, or soot, and at least 56 percent fewer oxides of nitrogen, which contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog.
The mandatory use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD), introduced over the past several years, is enabling a large portion of the emissions reductions. ULSD’s sulfur content is 97 percent lower than diesel fuel of the past. Sulfur is a natural part of crude oil and one of the key contributors to particulates in diesel fuel that cause noxious plumes of black exhaust. Greatly reducing sulfur content results in cleaner emissions from all diesel engines, with the newest engines (designed to use ULSD) achieving the greatest reduction.
Additionally, emissions reduction is further achieved through the mandatory use of best-available tailpipe technology. Tailpipe particulate filters are required to be installed on every non-road, non-marine diesel engine exceeding 50 horsepower. Similarly high standards are in place on the project’s tugboats and other marine vessels that limit fine diesel particulate matter to less than 3,700 grams per hour, one of the first restrictions of its kind in the nation.
To ensure that the project’s overall air quality goals are being met, a dozen air quality monitoring stations have been installed in Rockland and Westchester counties in locations around the project’s periphery.
As technological advances enable construction equipment to further reduce emissions levels in the future, TZC will bring such equipment to the New NY Bridge project, further reducing emissions and improving air quality.
