Cuomo briefed reporters following the collapse of a crane that landed across the north and southbound lanes of the Tappan Zee Bridge Tuesday July 19, 2016.
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“Our major concern is not so much the construction effort on the new bridge but the structural integrity of the old bridge”, Day said.
Lerner said that meant no vehicles were being permitted onto the southbound New York State Thruway.
One of the southbound lanes sustained damage on the surface and below, said Governor Andrew Cuomo, following inspections of the structure.
The authority advises all drivers to take alternate routes. “Progress being made on clearing the bridge”. An investigation is now underway to determine the exact cause of the collapse. “The crane operator is being checked but we believe he will be fine”. One construction worker was among those who suffered minor injuries. Nobody was seriously injured.
A construction crane toppled over on the Tappan Zee Bridge Tuesday, injuring two people and creating a “traffic nightmare” over the Hudson River. He says none of the injuries are serious.
“It’s a very old bridge that’s been pieced together for a very long time”, he said.
Terry Towle, the president of Tappan Zee Constructors, said they will be looking into whether the collapse was due to the crane, the vibratory hammer it was holding up or operating error. All the cars have been removed from the bridge and both approaches. No cars were hit.
A crane collapsed across lanes of traffic on the Tappan Zee Bridge around noon today.
At least two vehicles crashed when drivers swerved to avoid the fallen crane. Officials in Rockland County, on the other side of the span, are also responding. “If you said to me that a boom could fall across the Tappan Zee Bridge at noon, not hit a auto”. The county executive tweeted that the crane operator was shaken but not hurt.
The authority is now building a new Tappan Zee Bridge a few yards north of the current bridge at the price of $3.9 billion. It collapsed across the busy span it is replacing, halting traffic on the key suburban highway crossing. The southern-most lane was staying closed. It is being built alongside the original Tappan Zee span, which dates to 1955.
We are going to be reopening the bridge on this timetable – The three northbound lanes, just for your orientation, northbound is coming from Westchester to Rockland, headed upstate.
Rockland County had a helicopter and marine unit at the scene, according to Day.
In March, a tugboat collided with a construction barge near the construction of new bridge, and three of the tugboat’s crew members died. “The traffic backup is probably the biggest problem we’re dealing with”, Cuomo said, “and thank God for that”. Aerial video showed parts of the crane lying across all lanes as lines of cars and trucks sat stopped.
The incident began unfolding around noon Tuesday. “At first I thought the bridge was collapsing because this is not a good bridge”. Their conditions were not immediately reported.
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The crane’s collapse draws new focus to the construction of the replacement for the Tappan Zee.
