Rendering of Design Proposal 1 for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, NY, estimated to cost $3.142 billion. (New York State Thruway Authority)
Posted on 12/07/2012 7:30:31 PM PST by neverdem
Rendering of Design Proposal 1 for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, NY, estimated to cost $3.142 billion. (New York State Thruway Authority)
A selection committee has recommended a futuristic design for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, with suspension supports leaning outwards, giving the bridge the look of a stripped-down building by Santiago Calatrava.
Calatrava has designed the World Trade Center transit hub, the Milwaukee Museum of Art, and the Athens Olympic stadium.
The New York State Thruway Authority — the agency in charge of the project — will consider the design, along with two others, for a new Tappan Zee Bridge. The three designs were released(PDF) at Governor Cuomo’s cabinet meeting Wednesday.
The designs range from $3.142 billion to $4.059 billion when all estimated costs are totaled. All three proposals are being called “transit ready,” though images of the bridge being recommended don’t show buses or transit on the roadway.
Details of how the proposals will be financed still haven’t been released. Governor Cuomo said both the bridge’s full cost and the amount of federal financing (still unknown) would have to be tallied before a bridge financing plan could be released.
The three designs will be considered December 17th by the Thruway Authority board.
The state had said the bridge would cost $5.2 billion, but had been hoping the cost would be adjusted downward — in part to lower future tolls on drivers.
For more on why the bridge matters nationally, and the planning process to date, see our previous coverage.
More soon on the design details.
Design Proposal 1, seen in daytime, for the new Tappan Zee Bridge. (New York Thruway Authority)
Design Proposal 2 for the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Estimated cost, $3.99 billion. (New York State Thruway Authority)
Design Proposal 3 for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, estimated cost $3.99 billion. (New York State Thruway Authority)
What’s wrong with the old Tappan Zee bridge?? I liked that bridge ...
NY has too much money lying around. They don’t know what to do with it all, so they’ve decided to rebuild the Tappan Zee.
All the new bridges are being built with that design...Charleston SC, Boston MA, Delaware...must be the latest engineering ‘fad’...
One bridge that I've driven which was pretty impressive is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa.Quite cool,actually.
I like the old one.
Other than the fact that it is obsolete and ready to fall into the Hudson, nothing.
According to wikipedia it's 55 years old.It's also a very heavily traveled bridge,heavily traveled by trucks,buses and cars.I'm no engineer but one might suspect that such a structure would reach the point,over time,when replacement made more sense than repair.
It is literally falling apart.
A friend of mine is an iron worker who spent about 4 years underneath the bridge, patching it up.
His recommendation:
Either take the G.W. Bridge or the Beacon Bridge (I-84)... “...cause it’s gonna go one of these days.”
They better never ever plead poverty again if they have $3-5 BILLION laying around
How does lower future tolls LOWER the price of the bridge??
When they first told us that the “new World Trade Center” would cost $1 Billion, I said, “But what about the Mafia Tax? It will be $3 Billion before it’s done!”
So, about that bridge.....I suggest asking Boston about their tunnel estimates.
Only cost a mint.
We don't have any oceans or lakes though, just an almost-dried Trinity River, where the 3-eyed fish are born
Hadn’t seen that one before...
I drove across it a few times and liked it too... other than the damn tolls. But it is getting pretty old and probably caries far more traffic today than it was ever designed for.
But none the less, it is an impressive bridge. And a damn big one too.
I’d like to see how they intend to change the traffic paterns for the rush hours with those two, separate spans.
The key to this area no matter, is for an understated design.
Cable stayed bridges can be cool and fairly cheap.
http://www.figgbridge.com/varina_enon_bridge.html
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