Construction of new Tappan Zee Bridge is halfway done, new video details future work

Updated Sep 7, 2015

The construction of the multi-billion dollar new Tappan Zee Bridge has hit the halfway point.

The Journal News reported that the New York State Thruway Authority took people out on a tour of the construction at the mile-work site to celebrate the milestone for the massive project.

Most of the work done this year, with the help of the massive “Left Coast Lifter” crane, took place underwater, but by the end of the year, New York State Thruway Authority construction compliance engineer Tom McGuinness said all of the work should be above the Hudson River.

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“You have a tremendous number of people dedicated to the project right now and every day there’s just a lot of activity taking place,” McGuinness said.

One of the more visually exciting developments of the project will be the rise of the eight new 42-story towers that will leave the new bridge 100-feet taller that its predecessor. The construction crews have already started work on the towers, but they won’t be above the water until December. Until then, workers are building the towers 12 to 18 feet at a time until tower cranes are used.

“The rest of 2015 is going to be a very busy year,” McGuinness said.

The New York State Thruway Authority released the video below showing how the towers will be built for the $4.1 billion bridge – a price tag that could have been higher were it not for using a design-build contract.