Tarrytown News

Bridge Contractors Sued by State for Subpar Cables

Published 5 months ago5m ago • Bookmarks: 155

August 24, 2024

By Rick Pezzullo—

The New York State Thruway Authority and the contractors who built the Mario Cuomo Bridge are at odds again.

On Aug. 22, the Thruway Authority filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court against Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC) seeking at least $6 million for allegedly breaching a contract by using substandard cables.

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The Thruway Authority claims 61 of the 192 cables that were installed need to be retrofitted on the bridge’s main span for the safety of the 140,000 motorists who travel over the span daily.

“The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is committed to ensuring contractor compliance to guarantee the toll payers get what they paid for in the construction of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which independent experts have confirmed is safe,” said Jennifer Givner, spokesperson for the Thruway Authority.

The $4 billion Mario Cuomo Bridge project was touted as the largest bridge construction job in the state’s history. The construction required 14 miles of main span cables, 300,000 cubic yards of concrete and 200 million pounds of steel.

The first of the two new three-mile spans opened in Aug. 2017. The second span opened a year later.

“NYSTA and Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC) have a dispute regarding material compliance of several stay cable anchorage components. NYSTA asserts that these components are not contractually compliant and require remediation. TZC has disagreed and refused to act in accordance with their contract. To ensure contract compliance, NYSTA has filed a lawsuit to recover the costs of evaluation and remediation of these components,” Givner stated.

“Simultaneously, NYSTA has begun the process to retrofit these components, under the guidance of nation-leading experts in material science, engineering and design. NYSTA has also commissioned a full independent safety review of the GMMCB, which determined that the retrofit of the components is necessary to ensure their durability and full-service life that toll payers paid for,” Givner added.

In 2021, TZC sued NYSTA, contending it was owed $960 million for its work. That lawsuit was dropped a few months later.

In Dec. 2023, an advisory panel created by NYSTA concluded TZC was owed $101.5 million. However, NYSTA maintained it was owed $63 million. TZC filed an appeal earlier this month.

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler pointed the blame on Gov. Kathy Hochul demanded answers from the Thruway Authority.

“It is simply unfathomable that the Thruway Authority hasn’t come clean regarding the potential issues with structural integrity on the Tappan Zee Bridge,” Lawler stated. “During my time in the New York State Assembly, I sounded the alarm after it was revealed that bolts on the bridge were failing, and now here we are, three years later, talking about another issue impacting the structural integrity of this bridge.”

“The Thruway Authority and Governor Hochul need to provide immediate answers about when they became aware of the issue, what the long-term impacts may be on the bridge, and what the cost will be to Hudson Valley taxpayers to ensure it remains stable for decades to come,” Lawler concluded.

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