I Lift NY’s 328-foot lifting arm towers above the Hudson River.
The New NY Bridge project’s super crane is preparing to assist with the dismantling of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Dubbed I Lift NY, the machine is being redeployed this month by Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC) to remove the largest sections of the old bridge.
After the super crane was relocated to south of the Tappan Zee Bridge in May, TZC performed routine maintenance on the 384-foot machine, inspected its systems and instruments, and replaced its rigging system to better meet the needs of this new task.
Beginning next week, the super crane will assist with removing a section of the old bridge’s steel near the Westchester landing. It will remove 20 similar sections into next year, the largest weighing more than 1,300 tons. I Lift NY will place the material on floating barges for transportation offsite.
The super crane will also assist with disassembling large sections of concrete and substructure. Many of these materials will be recycled. The New York State Thruway Authority will provide more than 130 deck panels units, each approximately 13 feet wide by 50 feet long, to nearly a dozen state and local municipalities to be repurposed for other bridges and roadways across the state.
After removing materials near the Westchester landing, I Lift NY will also be used to install 10 steel girder assemblies for the new second span of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge next year.
Previously, the crane successfully placed thousands of tons of materials for the new bridge, including precast concrete pile caps, giant crossbeams in between the main span towers, road deck panels and more than 120 girder assemblies, some 410 feet long.
