Mike Matza was driving a Porco Energy Truck with 270 barbecue tanks – some of which were filled – when the crane crashed onto the bridge from a new construction just alongside it, halting traffic in both directions, NBC reported. “The boom collapsed and the damage is significant; the crane is mangled… but luckily, it wasn’t in rush hour and miraculously luckily no one hit the boom and the boom didn’t hit a auto and there were no injuries”, said Cuomo.
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Six of the seven lanes on the Tappan (TAP’-uhn) Zee Bridge have reopened after a crane collapsed across the entire width of the bridge earlier in the day.
The Port Authority released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying the planned closure of lower-level lanes for repairs were canceled.
A structural inspection was performed on the damaged span before it was partially reopened around 5:15 p.m. All but one southbound lane from Rockland to Westchester was expected to be open by Wednesday morning. Nobody was seriously injured.
Day also says there’s some damage to the bridge itself. “Until that is done, we’re not comfortable reopening the bridge to traffic”, Cuomo said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
Messages were left with Gov. Cuomo’s office and Tappan Zee Bridge Constructors, LLC. The new bridge, estimated to cost close to $4 billion, will replace the existing one that has been operational since 1955.
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.
In a separate report from the Inquisitr that was written before the recent construction began, the Tappan Zee Bridge Dangler Michael Davitt even tied a rope to himself and hung suspended from the bridge in an attempt to draw attention to political corruption.
Two bridge workers were taken to the hospital, in addition to three motorists who were forced to swerve to avoid the falling crane.
A construction worker and three people involved in two fender-benders were treated for “very minor injuries” on the bridge, which connects Tarrytown in Westchester County with Nyack in Rockland County.
In March, a 90-foot-long tugboat hit a construction barge near the bridge site and sank, killing three crew members.
The Westchester County Executive’s office confirmed the collapse and said it was working with local police.
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Further details were not immediately available.
