All lanes of the bridge were closed in both directions after the incident. There is surface damage to one lane which is the southern-most lane on the bridge and it is what I would call significant damage.
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The state’s longest bridge connects the city with New York’s busiest counties of Westchester and Rockland, carrying over 130,000 vehicles per day. In addition, the New York State Thruway Authority, which is the entity in charge of the new Tappan Zee Bridge construction project, was hit by scandal previous year, as reported by the Inquisitr.
All lanes with the exception of the damaged southbound lane on the Tappan Zee Bridge reopened Tuesday night. Digital traffic signs as far back as Interstate 95 in New Jersey are advising drivers of the closure.
The crane had been in use on a new bridge that’s being built alongside the old bridge. “Progress being made on clearing the bridge”.
“One of the questions is how much if any structural damage did it cause to the bridge and how do they get the crane lifted”, Rockland Sheriff’s Chief William Barbera said.
The injured motorists were hurt as vehicles swerved and quickly braked to avoid the crane and debris, The Associated Press reports. He says the operator was not thrown into the water.
Jeff J. Loughlin, the business manager of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137, the union that represents the crane’s operator, said that the operator remained at the scene with a union representative, and was expected to undergo drug and alcohol testing. “We’ll know more after the investigation”.
Cuomo said the crane was performing routine work on the new Tappan Zee Bridge, driving pilings into the river bottom, and it was unclear what caused its boom to fall across the entire 90-foot, seven-lane width of the old bridge. The injuries are not thought to be serious however.
“It shook the whole bridge”, he said.
Still, it’s tough to ignore that the Tappan Zee Bridge has been plagued by accidents and odd mishaps for some time.
Earlier in the day, traffic was halted in both directions, and Rockland County’s side roads were experiencing high traffic volume due to the implementation of the county’s emergency traffic diversion plan.
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No cars were hit by the crane’s arm as it came down around noon and crashed across all six lanes.
