Popular Cable-Stay Bridges Rise across U.S. to Replace Crumbling Spans
The new NY Bridge will replace a crumbling relic across New York's Hudson River with a flashy design called cable-stay that is gaining popularity with bridge engineers
Popular Cable-Stay Bridges Rise across U.S. to Replace Crumbling Spans
- STRONG AND STEADY ARMS Thirty-one barge-mounted cranes—each with its own name and credentials from previous work—are lined up next to the Tappan Zee Bridge, waiting to raise its replacement. Project managers have created an online tracking system so that passing boaters can monitor the location and direction of the project’s many moving pieces while navigating the Hudson. Image credit: Amy Nordrum
- BRIDGE-BUILDING WONDERS AFLOAT The I Lift NY Crane, formerly known as the Left Coast Lifter, is one of the world’s largest floating cranes. Operators paid $70,000 in tolls to pass it through the Panama Canal on their way to the Hudson River from its last project in San Francisco. As tall as the Statue of Liberty, the crane will aid in dismantling the Tappan Zee Bridge and erecting its replacement. Image credit: New York State Thruway Authority
- A DEEP FOUNDATION The New NY Bridge will stand atop 1,000 steel pilings. The pilings measure 36 to 72 inches in diameter and are driven into the riverbed as deep as 380 feet in places. Some of the pilings will be capped with piers which will support the bridge’s four towers. Image credit: New York State Thruway Authority
- MIX AND POUR This barge holds a mobile concrete factory or “floating batch plant”—one of two on the project site. The new bridge will require more than 300,000 cubic yards of concrete, which has a short shelf life before it dries. Concrete will be mixed aboard these vessels and poured into pilings to shore up the New NY Bridge. Image credit: New York State Thruway Authority
- SIX OVERLOOKS The completed bridge will feature a pedestrian walkway and bike path across the entire 3.1-mile span. This artist’s rendering depicts one of six overlooks along the way. The mirror that the man in front is looking at reflects the Manhattan skyline from across the bridge. Image credit: New York State Thruway Authority
- CABLE-STAYED TOWERS An artist’s rendering of the New NY Bridge at night. The bridge features a cable-stay design built from the tension of 192 cables strung across four towers. Construction crews are working on a five-year timeline to complete the bridge by the spring of 2018. Once finished, it will be the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Image credit: New York State Thruway Authority
