Veteran water crew member Anthony Ricciardi makes his rounds on the New NY Bridge project site.
By the sweat of their brow, construction workers have made impressive progress on the New NY Bridge project. But with near triple digit temperatures increasingly becoming the norm, keeping more than 1,000 workers on the Hudson River at any given time hydrated is of paramount importance.
The necessity of supplying water to construction workers goes well beyond keeping them comfortable, it is critical to their health and safety. Workers who become dehydrated can experience a loss in concentration, dizziness and even lightheadedness, which could place them in danger in the often challenging conditions on the project.
For the well-being of its workers, Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) employs a hydration team that is dedicated to delivering fresh water across the 3.1-mile project site. Quenching the collective thirst of the project requires the daily delivery of more than 600 gallons of fresh water to crew members.
Yonkers native Anthony Ricciardi has served as a key member of the water delivery crew for the past two years. His familiarity with the Hudson River comes from 23 years of experience working on construction projects throughout the local area. “I love my job,” Anthony says, “I make sure it’s done right and people notice.”
The water delivery team utilizes one of TZC’s specialized transportation barges to deliver fresh water across the project site.
Ricciardi and three other workers begin each day by donning sterile latex gloves and filling more than 150 five-gallon barrels with fresh, filtered water (to ensure quality, TZC uses a five-stage water filtration system). The water barrels are then carefully loaded and secured onto one of TZC’s transportation vessels.
The water delivery team traverses the river from Rockland to Westchester, stopping at each work site to supply full barrels and retrieve empty ones. Some locations on the project, such as the work trestles, are so large that the team makes multiple stops. Over the course of the average work day during the summer, the hydration team makes approximately 60 water stops.
The daily exchange of nearly 300 barrels across the project site has made Anthony and his team well-known among the TZC crew members. “I make sure they hear me coming a mile away,” Ricciardi says, who announces his approach with a booming voice that has become a familiar and welcome sound to all workers. “With everything I do, I like to set an example of doing your job right and being proud of what you do.”
Learn more about the efforts of the men and women of the New NY Bridge project, including the super crane operator, local boater safety teams and even an engineer who worked on the original Tappan Zee Bridge.
