A Massive Crane Collapsed On New York"s Tappan Zee Bridge

Crane collapses on Tappan Zee Bridge

A crane collapsed across the span of New Yorks Tappan Zee Bridge today, blocking traffic and wreaking havoc on the states longest bridge.

Image: WABC via NY Daily News

The crane collapsed just after noon near mile marker 15, NBC reported. Rockland County Executive Ed Day said three motorists and two bridge workers were injured, according to Lohud.

The collapse brought traffic to a standstill. Authorities had said earlier today the bridge would be closed indefinitely until the crane was removed, though according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, some lanes on the bridge were set to re-open this evening. The reason for the collapse is still unclear.

Two cars had minor accidents in avoiding the falling crane, but miraculously there were no serious injuries whatsoever, Cuomo told reporters. No vehicle actually hit the crane. The traffic wasnt that heavy. We were very, very fortunate that the situation wasnt worse.

Some damage to the bridge has been reported; Ed Day told Lohud that there was a punch through hole on one side of the bridge, as well as a hole in the guard rail.

The crane was being used to build a replacement bridge for the Tappan Zee Bridge, construction of which is slated for completion in 2018 and estimated to cost roughly $US4 ($5) billion. The current Tappan Zee Bridge, which opened in 1955 and was only intended to last 50 years, is something of an infrastructure nightmare.

According to a 2015 piece in the Atlantic, New York had to spend $US300 ($400) million to fix the bridges deck because five-foot-wide holes started opening up along the span. Meanwhile, the ongoing construction to replace the bridge was delayed for more than three decades in bureaucratic red tape and hand wringing.

Photos and video from the scene show the extent of the collapse:

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This post has been updated to reflect new information about the number of injuries and lane re-openings.

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Source: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/07/a-massive-crane-collapse-is-blocking-six-lanes-of-traffic-in-new-york/

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Crane collapses on lanes of Tappan Zee Bridge in New York City suburbs

Crane falls on Tappan Zee Bridge

NEW YORK >> Cars crossing the Tappan Zee bridge north of New York City on Tuesday had to swerve out of the way as a crane boom from an adjacent bridge project crashed down across the key Hudson River crossing, halting traffic for hours.

It took several hours before travel lanes were reopened and officials expressed gratitude and amazement that no one was significantly hurt.

Miraculously, there were no serious injuries, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who briefed reporters at the scene. If you said to me that a boom could fall across the Tappan Zee Bridge at noon, not hit a car ... I would not believe it.

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. Officials said five people suffered minor injuries.

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Nicholas DEmealio, of Irvington, was in a vehicle about three football fields away from the crane, toward the center of the 3.1-mile-long bridge between Westchester and Rockland counties, when he heard a bang and his driver slammed on the brakes.

It shook the whole bridge, he said. At first I thought the bridge was collapsing because this is not a good bridge.

Everybody was OK but stranded. DEmealio and his friends got out of their vehicle and threw around a football to pass the time.

Over the next several hours, the boom was removed from the span and the bridge inspected for damage. Soon after 5 p.m., the northbound lanes from Westchester to Rockland reopened, and Cuomo said a southbound lane would open at 7 p.m., followed by another southbound lane at 8 p.m. The southern-most lane was staying closed.

The reopening of lanes avoided a traffic nightmare, as the Tappan Zee is a vital Hudson River crossing and its closure would have forced drivers to other bridges anywhere from 20 miles to 30 miles away.

The base and treads of the movable crane sat on the unfinished new bridge. Authorities didnt immediately say how tall the crane was.

After the crash, several boats carrying emergency workers maneuvered in the river around the collapsed crane arm, while other workers appeared to be scanning the water around the wreck.

Rockland County had a helicopter and marine unit at the scene, county Executive Ed Day said. He tweeted that the crane operator was shaken but not hurt.

The new Tappan Zee Bridge has been under construction for three years and is expected to be completed by 2018 at a cost of $3.9 billion. It is being built alongside the original Tappan Zee, which dates to 1955.

In March, a 90-foot-long tugboat hit a construction barge near the bridge site and sank, killing three crew members.

In 2013, a powerboat plowed into a construction barge at the bridge, killing a bride-to-be and her fiances best man. The boats driver, who had nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to two years behind bars. The victims families, however, attributed the crash mainly to bad lighting on the barge.

Source: http://www.registercitizen.com/article/RC/20160719/NEWS/160719559

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