Skip to main content

I Lift NY crane places first girder on New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge

One of the world’s largest cranes has placed the first steel girder assembly for the approach span of the new NY Bridge, often called the Tappen Zee Bridge in New York. The barge-mounted I Lift NY super crane with its nearly 100m boom slowly picked up the 125m unit from its delivery barge and gently lowered it onto concrete pedestals in the Hudson River, near the Rockland County side of the bridge. The super crane will install even larger sections of the new bridge, some of which weigh around 907tonne
June 25, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
One of the world’s largest cranes has placed the first steel girder assembly for the approach span of the new NY Bridge, often called the Tappen Zee Bridge in New York.

The barge-mounted I Lift NY super crane with its nearly 100m boom slowly picked up the 125m unit from its delivery barge and gently lowered it onto concrete pedestals in the Hudson River, near the Rockland County side of the bridge.

The super crane will install even larger sections of the new bridge, some of which weigh around 907tonnes, in the coming weeks, according to a statement on the official website of the Tappen Zee Bridge. I Lift NY will also help dismantle the existing 60-year-old structure that was designed to carry up to 100,000 vehicles daily but is now handling about 138,000.

The super crane arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey in January 2014 after a journey of just under 10,000km from San Francisco Bay, including a tight passage through the Panama Canal in Central America. I Lift NY underwent modifications at a private facility before being moved to the New NY Bridge project site.

The crane is owned by TZC - Tappan Zee Constructors - and is officially registered with the US Coast Guard as the Left Coast Lifter.

The first span of the new twin-span bridge is scheduled to open in 2016 with full opening planned for 2018. The new bridge is designed to last 100 years without major structural maintenance, according to the official bridge website.

It will have eight traffic lanes, four breakdown/emergency lanes, as well as a dedicated commuter bus lane from the day it opens. Designed and constructed to be mass-transit-ready, the new crossing will be able to accommodate bus rapid transit, light rail or commuter rail in the future. The bridge will also include a bike and pedestrian path.

The New NY Bridge project is design-build contract worth $3.9 billion and won by consortium Tappan Zee Constructors. Companies include 6343 Fluor, 1021 American Bridge, Granite, and 1014 Traylor Bros., along with key design firms 2418 HDR, 4121 Buckland & Taylor, URS and GZA.

TZC is working closely on the project with a team of employees from the New York State Thruway Authority and the State Department of Transportation.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New NY Bridge - Tappan Zee - main span towers poured
    December 16, 2016
    One of the largest US infrastructure projects is nearer completion after recent topping out of the eight main span towers of the New NY Bridge. The final concrete pour was in mid-December and all piles - more than 1,000 - have been installed in Hudson River. To date, 3,000 roadway panels for the approaches - making 5.5km in length - have been installed, according to the New York State Thruway Authority, owner of the New NY Bridge project. The New NY Bridge, also called the Tappan Zee Bridge, is on tra
  • New York governor aims to freeze Thruway tolls, including Tappaen Zee Bridge
    January 11, 2016
    The governor of the US state New York, Andrew Cuomo, said he wants to spend US$22 billion over the next five year on maintaining aging roads and bridges. Cuomo also wants to give the agency responsible for maintaining the state’s major cross-state tolled freeway, the 920km Thruway, $1 billion so the agency – New York State Thruway Authority - can freeze tolls at their current rate until 2020. US media reported that his plan would also eliminate tolls for agricultural traffic. He would also offer a t
  • New York’s new bridge opens
    September 10, 2018
    The second span of the New York’s new cable-stayed bridge has now been completed and has opened to traffic. The final span of the Governor Mario M Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge, has now been opened to drivers. The opening was delayed slightly due to concerns over the state of a section of the old bridge, now being demolished. The new link was constructed by a joint venture headed by Fluor. With the new bridge opening, all four lanes of eastbound traffic shifted to the new second span. T
  • First span of Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in New York opens
    August 25, 2017
    The first span of the 5km twin-span Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge - formerly the Tappan Zee Bridge - in New York opened August 25. Tappan Zee Constructors, joint venture led by Fluor and including American Bridge, Granite and Taylor Bros., shift all four lanes of westbound traffic from the existing bridge to the new span overnight. The four eastbound lanes will be shifted onto the new span in the autumn. Demolition of the old bridge can then get underway, allowing more room for construction of the adjacent