Bob Stackhouse of Tappan Zee Constructors, Inc, the lead steward for Teamsters Local 456, stands on the dock after helping to refuel one of the three crew boats currently working on the new Tappan Zee Bridge project at Petersen Boat Yard and Marina in Nyack May 2, 2013. The crews on the river now are among the first of thousands of union workers that will spend the next five years on the construction of the new Tappan Zee and the dismantling of the present bridge. ( Seth Harrison / The Journal News )

Bobby Stackhouse feels the growing excitement for the new Tappan Zee Bridge as he fuels the boats of the first work crews on the river.

It’s just Stackhouse and about two dozen other union workers currently on site, but they will gradually get more company as thousands of laborers join the monumental effort to build the Tappan Zee replacement in the next five years.

“This is just the beginning,” said Stackhouse, who grew up in North Tarrytown and is lead steward on the project for Teamsters and Chauffeurs Local 456. “All the trades have been starving for the last five or six years — it’s been so bad. This job is like adrenaline being tapped into you. Once it gets going, it’s going to put many people back to work.”

The $3.9 billion project to replace the Tappan Zee is expected to employ roughly 2,600 full-time construction workers each year for the next five years, according to state economic models based on the cost of the project. Some of those union members may work during certain portions of the project, while others may be employed for the duration of the project.

So far, the small team that includes Stackhouse is making early preparations such as setting up staging areas on piers and testing the river soil. As the work intensifies in the coming months, Stackhouse, 59, will manage groups of truck drivers, transport equipment for repairs and keep track of supplies.

“People who are coming to this job know it’s steady work for a while, and they’ll be OK with their bills,” he said. “Everyone is very happy out here.”

From carpenters to crane operators, workers from dozens of construction specialties will all work under the same labor agreement to complete the 3-mile, twin spans by April 2018.

The deal encompasses some 50 locals and was negotiated last year between local and state union leaders and the New York State Thruway Authority. The several-hundred-page document establishes consistent policies regarding work hours, overtime rates and holidays. The common rules will save the state some $450 million, while also providing highly skilled workers for the complex job, officials say.

Longer work weeks

Many of the unions typically work 35 hours a week, with any work beyond that paid as overtime. But under the bridge’s labor agreement, the standard work week on the project will be 40 hours, either in four 10-hour days or five eight-hour days.

The wages, compensation packages and annual raises union workers receive will vary based on trade and experience. They are standard rates for their work that were negotiated between the unions and their trade councils, and are not specific to the bridge project. Workers will also receive annual raises based on trade and experience.

For example, a fully-trained ironworker specializing in the bridge’s steel structure will receive $110 an hour in total compensation. That includes $46 in wages and $64 for health and other benefits.

Workers will receive an extra $25 every day they show up an hour before the start of their shift, to give them more than enough time to catch a bus or boat to their job site. The bonus is designed to save TZC both time and money by making sure shifts start on time, officials said.

A cap on the overtime rate is another way the state expects to save money. While some unions are paid a double-time rate for overtime, all union workers on this job will be paid at time-and-a-half.

The agreement also standardizes paid holidays for workers. Some unions receive a dozen holidays on other jobs, but will get eight on this one. The deal details how to settle disputes and handle injuries and guarantees that there will be no strikes, slowdowns or picketing by labor or lockouts by management.

Even with the compromises, the deal was worth it because it will give a pool of some 40,000 union members a chance for steady work, union leaders said. That’s important for some trades that have suffered with unemployment rates as high as 40 percent in recent years.

“What’s guaranteed is that the men on the job are from (local) building trades,” said Pete Creegan, business agent for Iron Workers Ornamental Local 580, which has about 1,000 members in Westchester and Putnam counties. “It keeps the people living in the area paying their school taxes, putting their kids through school, and keeping those communities alive. Everyone benefits.”

Safety and security

While standardized rules in project labor agreements are typical, the one for the Tappan Zee project includes stiff, and in some cases unprecedented, requirements to minimize the risk of accidents, ensure top performance and keep the site secure.

“This job … requires every worker on the job, including management, including people designing the bridge in an office miles way, to be substance tested” for drug and alcohol use, Ross Pepe, president of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, said.

“It’s the only public works project in the state, that I know of, that has a requirement for substance testing,” Pepe said.

The drug and alcohol tests will be administered before employment, on a random basis, following accidents and for reasonable suspicion. Tarrytown-based Clarity Testing will carry out the program and perform daily urine tests on site.

Because project workers will know details about the bridge’s design and structure, workers have to undergo background checks to see whether they have criminal histories, immigration issues or financial problems that could make them vulnerable to bribes, officials said.

Those entering the work zone, whether they are top managers, daily workers or visitors, will have to go through homeland security clearance ahead of time.

These safety and security measures also lower costs for liability insurance and worker’s compensation and reduce the project’s overall price tag, they said.

A diverse workforce

Women and minority workers will get special consideration as part of the labor agreement. It requires that nearly 30 percent of the total construction hours — 22.6 percent for minorities and 6.9 percent for women — go to those groups.

Though there aren’t specific requirements for this project, union leaders said they are currently working with Helmets to Hard Hats to get military veterans on the job.

Union workers will carry out the majority of the actual construction, but the labor agreement allows up to 12 percent of the workforce to include nonunion workers.

Because public money is involved, even non-union construction workers have to be paid the prevailing wage, which is set by state law.

Most of the nonunion work on the project will be related to activities outside of construction, such as public relations and information technology.

Creegan, the ironworker union leader, said the Tappan Zee project is a special opportunity for workers to accomplish a great feat.

“They accept that challenge,” he said. “What’s a better feeling than making it happen at the end of the day?”

Tappan Zee wages and benefits

Here are projected earnings for some union workers on the Tappan Zee Bridge project. These figures are for journeymen, the most experienced workers in their trades. Apprentices used on the project will make less. The project labor agreement also calls for annual raises.
These figures are the total hourly package, which includes wages and benefits (health insurance, pension, annuity, vacation and other funds)
• Iron Workers Structural Local 40 (work on bridge’s steel structures)
$110.11 ($46 wage; $64.11 benefits)
• Operating Engineers Heavy/Highway Local 137 (crane operators rated over 100 tons)
$85.80 ($60 wage; $25.80 benefits)
• Carpenters Local 279
$68.52 ($33.48 wage; $35.04 benefits)
• Teamsters and Chaffeurs Local 456 (drivers of tri-axle trucks)
$60.19 ($38.02 wage; $22.17 benefits)
• Laborers Heavy/Highway Local 60 (concrete workers)
$54.40 ($34.55 wage; $19.85 benefits)
Sources: Tappan Zee Bridge project labor agreement and Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown and Khurram Saeed, The Journal News (LoHud.com), 3/5/13

Local businesses are already getting a boost from the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, while others from across the region eagerly await their own chances to benefit from the $3.9 billion effort.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the group that’s designing and building the new span, recently bought 36 vehicles from Schultz Ford in Nanuet and plans to buy up to 30 more for its project team, state officials say. A dealership owner declined to comment on the transaction.

That purchase is just the start of scores of opportunities local businesses will get as the new 3-mile span is built, project officials say.

“The one message we want you to take away is you have not missed out,” Brian Conybeare, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s special adviser on the project, told hundreds of eager business leaders in Tarrytown on Tuesday. “Bid packages are going to start rolling out this summer — the first batch — and over the next five years.”

The state and Tappan Zee Constructors hosted a business forum at the Westchester Marriott Hotel to explain how companies can compete for jobs as they become available. A pair of previous business events focused on disadvantaged enterprises and individuals seeking work on the project.

Tappan Zee Constructors is working on the bridge’s final design and will gradually put out requests for subcontractors over the next year, officials said.

Tappan Zee Constructors spokesman Chris Stokes urged businesses to register on its website and fill out pre-qualification forms. In order for companies to submit proposals on jobs, they have to qualify based on safety, financial and performance records. Companies that meet certain requirements will then be allowed to place bids.

Earl Latterell, a regional manager at Mammoet, attended the forum and said he feels confident his Texas-based company will win work.

“We provide a very specialized type of service — probably one of two companies in the world that do it,” he said, explaining that Mammoet has special equipment that could be used to demolish the existing bridge when the time comes.

Len Bisceglia, a sales representative for Kass Industrial Supply, based in the Bronx, also left Tuesday’s forum feeling optimistic.

“A lot of people think it’s all been put to bed, but there are still opportunities,” he said.

Sales manager Tom Lewis traveled all the way from Buffalo. His company, Hanes Supply, provides equipment such as worker safety harnesses, ropes and lifting devices.

“We do exactly what they need,” Lewis said. “The sheer dollar volume of business (the project) will generate is huge.”

Rafael Perez said he hopes his company, GCCOM Construction Co. Inc., based in Queens, can coordinate the labor for various stages of the actual construction.

“It’s a chance to help the company grow,” he said. “The economy is a little weak, and these jobs are few and far between.”

Hundreds of business leaders gathered at a Tappan Zee Bridge project forum at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown on April 23, 2013. (The Journal News/Theresa Juva-Brown)

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown, The Journal News (LoHud.com), 4/24/13

Featured (left to right): Rob Astorino, Westchester County Executive; MaryEllen Odell, Putnam County Executive; Jonathan Drapkin, President and CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress; and Ross Pepe, President of Construction Industry Council and Treasurer of BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org pictured at Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress’s 2^nd annual Regional Leadership Conversation kick-off breakfast, “New Bridge, New Approaches”, on April 4 at the Doubletree in Tarrytown, NY. A panel of three county leaders representing the lower Hudson Valley discussed issues facing their communities.

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About BuildtheBridgeNowNY.org:

BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org a statewide coalition advocating for a new Tappan Zee Bridge, launched in 2012 and has been instrumental in raising public awareness and building support for the new Hudson River crossing. Leadership of the BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org coalition consists of Ross Pepe, Treasure (CIC president), Marsha Gordon, President (President and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester) and Al Samuels, Secretary (President of the Rockland Business Association).

About the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc.
The Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc. (CIC) is a professional trade organization representing more than 500 local construction and building industry firms working throughout the Hudson Valley region of New York State. CIC and affiliate association members employ more than 30,000 construction and related industry workers and promotes many industry initiatives to create awareness for the needs of infrastructure renewal, commercial, institutional and residential construction that expand the region’s economy and tax base while creating new jobs.

Construction Industry Council applauds DEC agreement

Tarrytown, NY – (March 28, 2013) – Yesterday, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced an agreement between New York State and two leading environmental groups regarding the types of environmental protective measures that will be put into place during construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge. The Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc. (CIC), a professional trade organization representing more than 500 local construction and building industry firms working throughout the Hudson Valley region, applauds this milestone as the next important step toward beginning construction on what will be among the most impactful projects in the history of the region.

“The permit that was issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) provides the type of protection and guidance needed for ecologically and environmentally responsible construction,” says Ross J. Pepe, CIC president and Treasurer of BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org.   “Our members look forward to helping build the bridge in a way that is win-win for all — the river, the local infrastructure, the economy of our region, and the thousands of construction workers who will be involved the project.”

The permit protects two local endangered fish species, the Atlantic sturgeon and the shortnose sturgeon, and also includes $10 million for research and ecological improvements in the river.

“With this permit, we are one step closer to the start of construction,” says Pepe. “CIC and its partners in BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org congratulate Governor Cuomo on his leadership and vision in shepherding this project expeditiously through the necessary approval process.”

For more information visit http://buildthebridgenowny.org, or contact George Drapeau at 914-631-6070 or cicwhv@aol.com. For additional information about Riverkeeper, visit www.riverkeeper.org.

# # #

About BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org

BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org a statewide coalition advocating for a new Tappan Zee Bridge, launched in 2012 and has been instrumental in raising public awareness and building support for the new Hudson River crossing. Leadership of the BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org coalition consists of Ross Pepe, Treasure (CIC president), Marsha Gordon, President (President and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester) and Al Samuels, Secretary (President of the Rockland Business Association).

About the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc.
The Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc. (CIC) is a professional trade organization representing more than 500 local construction and building industry firms working throughout the Hudson Valley region of New York State. CIC and affiliate association members employ more than 30,000 construction and related industry workers and promotes many industry initiatives to create awareness for the needs of infrastructure renewal, commercial, institutional and residential construction that expand the region’s economy and tax base while creating new jobs.

GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS ON SUPPORT FOR NEW NY BRIDGE 

DEC Issues Permits Outlining Extensive Environmental Protections and Mitigation During Construction 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the state has reached an agreement with groups Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson on permits that will include extensive environmental protective measures and mitigation funding to protect the Hudson River and minimize environmental impacts during construction of the New NY Bridge. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today issued an environmental permit containing these comprehensive protections authorizing the New York State Thruway Authority to proceed with construction.

“We are making record progress on building a new bridge for the Hudson Valley while ensuring the comprehensive protection the environment and natural beauty of this region,” said Governor Cuomo. “Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson’s support for the state’s extensive environmental protections is a critical step forward for the New NY Bridge.”

“Riverkeeper is pleased to join Governor Cuomo and Scenic Hudson in finalizing this key permit that will protect the Hudson River and enable the new Tappan Zee Bridge project to move forward,” said Paul Gallay, President and Hudson Riverkeeper. “The significant reduction in dredging and the use of smaller pilings, coupled with a strong DEC permit, increased mitigation funding and the state’s agreement to give us a seat at the table in monitoring the construction all add up to a project we can work with. Together with our partner Scenic Hudson, we will continue to ensure that the new Tappan Zee Bridge is built in a way that safeguards our river while providing local communities with the modern infrastructure they need.”

“Scenic Hudson is proud to have achieved, through this permit and agreement, stronger protections for the river and communities that could be impacted by the project,” said Scenic Hudson President, Ned Sullivan. “Working collaboratively with Riverkeeper and the Cuomo administration, we have produced significant improvements to the project design that will result in fewer and less intensive environmental impacts. Also our advocacy has led to mitigation funds that will restore important habitat and give a boost to riverfront revitalization efforts in Westchester and Rockland County communities. We applaud the governor’s team for working with us to create a positive outcome”

“DEC worked with Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson and the Thruway Authority to develop a permit that best protects the river and environment,” DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. “The end result is a stronger permit that will provide important ecological benefits in addition to advancing vital new infrastructure.”

“Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York State has shown that it can undertake a huge transportation infrastructure improvement and do so in record time,” said Thruway Authority Executive Director Thomas J. Madison. “The environmental review and procurement for the New NY Bridge were completed in little more than a year, with extensive public involvement, and while the pace was fast, the deliberations were thorough and no shortcuts were taken. We will continue to work closely with environmentalists and others in the Hudson Valley as we develop and implement mitigation measures.”

During the public comment process on the draft permit, Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson expressed concerns regarding various mitigation measures necessary to compensate for claimed or potential impacts associated with construction of the replacement bridge. After consultation and agreement by DEC to increase mitigation funding, both groups have agreed that the final permit addresses these concerns.

The DEC permit approval meets construction deadlines for the new bridge and will mandate an extensive program for fish and water quality protections. DEC determined that the bridge construction will only have minimal and short term effects on local endangered species the Atlantic and Shortnose sturgeon. In addition, the DEC issued environmental permits requiring $10 million in environmental enhancements, consisting of research measures and ecological improvements in the Lower Hudson that will compensate for the potential impacts of in-river construction activities.

The specific environmental enhancements for the project include the following:

• · Restoring a former river channel at Gay’s Point to provide fish spawning habitat
  · Replacing 13 acres of oyster beds disturbed during construction
  · Eradicating 200 acres of invasive species and restoring the natural flow of Crumkill Creek in Piermont Marsh
  · Reducing storm water pollution and improving water quality in Sparkill Creek through a green infrastructure project
  · Studying the restoration of historic wetlands in Piermont Marsh
  · Designing and implementing a series of additional habitat enhancement and rehabilitation projects, to be determined in consultation with Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson.

DEC’s permit contains comprehensive requirements to minimize the environmental effects of construction. These protective actions include the use of sound attenuation systems to safeguard fish from acoustic effects of pile driving, seasonal limits on dredging to avoid peak fish migration and spawning, monitoring sturgeon movement during construction, and requiring an independent Environmental Compliance Monitor to observe the work and report back to DEC. Now, only the Coast Guard and U.S. Army Corp approvals are required.

Under the permit, the Thruway Authority will implement an outreach campaign in the commercial fishing industry to reduce the impact of commercial by-catch of Atlantic sturgeon in the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, the permit requires actions that will enhance scientific understanding of sturgeon life in the river such as mapping their habitat, analyzing their diet and adding to the number of sonically tagged sturgeon to study their movement.

The Thruway Authority will also conduct a stakeholder process, in collaboration with Scenic Hudson, to develop and implement $1.5 million in community-based waterfront revitalization projects, to be designed in consultation with the NYS Department of State and DEC.

Additional news available at www.governor.ny.gov
New York State | Executive Chamber | press.office@exec.ny.gov | 518.474.8418

Design concept for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, as seen from Losee Park in Tarrytown. The first barges for the $3.9 billion project arrived in the Hudson River on Monday. / New York Thruway Authority

The first barges for the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project arrived in the Hudson River on Monday.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the firm designing and building the new span, will test the riverbed’s soil and land on New York State Thruway Authority property in Rockland and Westchester counties. The work is expected to take eight weeks.

“This is an extension of the Smart Early Work conducted by the Thruway Authority in the Hudson River last Spring,” Brian Conybeare, special adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the project, said in a statement. “Tappan Zee Constructors will be doing pre-construction surveys of the river bottom and landing areas to help determine the conditions where support pilings for the new bridge will be installed in the future.”

State officials say the test boring will use a drill rig and is not expected to be as loud as the state’s test piling driving last year. In a construction notification, the firm said noise from the equipment would be “at a minimum” and the work would not impact traffic in the area.

Tori Weisel, president of the Irving Neighborhood Preservation Association, said noise monitoring equipment has yet to be installed in Irving, a community of 40 homes that sits next to the existing bridge’s toll plaza.

The state had also said it would put up fencing along Van Wart Avenue to shield properties from traffic on the Thruway maintenance road.

Though residents are still waiting for those protections, Weisel is optimistic they will get them.

“Will there be noise? I’m sure there will be, but I don’t think it will be the constant pounding, pounding, pounding” like last year, she said.

Fred Gross has a clear view of the bridge from the back porch of his home on Tappan Landing Road. Gross said he and his neighbors have asked for protections such as sound barriers and noise resistant windows. After a meeting with state officials and the firm last month, Gross is hopeful.

“They are very concerned about everyone’s needs on both sides of the river,” he said.

Conybeare said in an email that the state and officials from the firm have recently met with residents near the bridge to discuss locations for the equipment, and noise, air quality, and vibration monitors are on schedule to be in place when construction begins.

Dredging of the river bottom is expected to start in the summer.

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown, The Journal News (LoHud.com), 3/26/13

  Eyewitnesss News

NEW YORK – Work on replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge is about to begin.

Six barges and tugboats carrying construction equipment will begin arriving next week.

The president of Tappan Zee Constructors, Darrell Waters, says the barges will be among 50 to 60 that will arrive in coming months. At the peak of construction there will be 100 barges.

Waters told Rockland business executives “we’re starting the mobilization of our fleet of equipment.”

He says the barges will aid with soil sampling in the river. The work will become more evident once crews begin sinking piles by early summer.

By August, Waters says crews will begin dredging 900,000 cubic yards of sediment from the river. And by fall, one of the world’s largest floating cranes will arrive.

(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ABC 7 Eyewitness News, 3/26/13

A design committee for the new Tappan Zee Bridge has recommended making the towers chamfered, or angled, as pictured at right. Rendering provided by New York State Thruway Authority.

ALBANY — The New York State Thruway Authority has proposed tweaking the design of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

The proposal, recommended by the project’s visual quality panel, calls for replacing the squared tops of the soaring 400-foot-plus towers with chamfered, or angled, ones.

The authority has posted multiple views of the two designs at newnybridge.com and is asking the public to vote its preference by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

The change in the tower tops wouldn’t alter any other aspects of the bridge’s design or affect its construction schedule. It could, however, add as much as $2 million to the bridge’s $3.9 billion cost.

“We all want a nice-looking bridge,” said Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, — but this isn’t the most compelling need for limited dollars, no matter how small the price.”

Vanterpool, an advocate for adding transit to the new bridge, pointed out the state’s plan to pay for the project hasn’t progressed beyond securing a $1.5 billion federal loan.

A Thruway spokesman couldn’t explain why the visual quality panel wanted to change the tower tops. When the design was first released, the towers were compared to the Honda logo, chopsticks and tuning forks.

judyrife@gmail.com

Written by Judy Rife, Times Herald-Record (RecordOnline.com), 3/19/13

New York is poised to get a $1.5 billion loan from the federal government to help fund the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project, state officials announced Friday.

If the state secures the money, it will be the largest loan the U.S. Department of Transportation has ever awarded under the Transportation Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act program, or TIFIA, a federal official said.

The interest rate will not be locked in until the loan closes. Friday’s rate on a 35-year loan was 3.27 percent.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in the statement that the loan will help keep tolls “affordable for motorists.”

“(This) action is also amplified by the fact that, under design-build, the selected bridge plan came in $1 billion under the expected price, maximizing the impact of this major financial support,” he said.

State officials had said the cash toll on the new bridge could rise to $14, an estimate Cuomo charged was too high.

Transportation economist Charles Komanoff said the loan could help knock down the average toll to between $8 and $10.

“If they can keep the total cost under $4 billion, then they will probably be able to keep the toll at under $10,” he said.

The amount people will have to pay to cross the new bridge also will depend on traffic volume. If traffic grows 2 percent a year, the average toll could be roughly $8.50, Komanoff said.

“We can say between eight and nine bucks if they get (traffic) growth, and nine and 10 bucks if they don’t get the growth,” he said.

Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which has pushed for a mass-transit system to be part of the project, said, “The key issue is without having a transit option, people don’t have a choice but to pay the toll.”

Rockland Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell called the loan “good news” but said people need to hear more.

“We’ll need to actually see numbers and how they are going to pay for the rest of the construction,” Cornell said.

State officials said they would continue to search for other federal-funding sources to pay for the bridge, and the state expects to sell bonds backed by toll revenue for the balance of the project cost.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said the agency will hire an independent financial auditor to review the Thruway Authority’s credit before approving it for the TIFIA loan.

The state is required to pay the federal government $100,000 for the review.

After the creditworthiness stage, the next step would be mere formalities: an invitation to apply followed by negotiation of the final terms of the loan. It was unclear how long that process would take and when the state would be cut a check, but the agency is committed to moving forward quickly, the Transportation Department said.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, praised the loan announcement.

“I am pleased that the Tappan Zee will be receiving the maximum amount possible from the U.S. Department of Transportation for this loan program so that the reconstruction of the Tappan Zee can move forward while keeping tolls affordable,” she said in a statement.

On Jan. 24, the Thruway board authorized selling $500 million in short-term bonds to cover the initial costs of the project. Some of that money was used to make the first payment to Tappan Zee Constructors, the joint venture that will design and build the twin-span crossing.

The design-build team plans to take soil test samples in the Hudson River this month, kicking off the five-year construction project.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, and Brian Conybeare, special adviser on the Tappan Zee Bridge project, study a model of the replacement bridge. The state expects to receive a crucial $1.5 billion federal loan to help fund the construction. / File photo/New York Thruway Authority

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown & Khurram Saeed, 3/8/2013, The Journal News (LoHud.com)