Table of contents for Rebuilding a Bridge

  1. Pre-Trip
  2. To the Bridge
  3. Demo Yard

tappen zee bridgeThe Tappan Zee Bridge crossing the Hudson River in New York State on InterState 287 also known as the New York ThruWay. It’s being rebuilt, not just resurfaced, it’s being replaced a piece at a time. With what we call “Bridge panels”, there are two types of bridge panels, the “C” section is just a straight piece lane (including the white stripes) of reinforced concrete with the underlaying structural steel, it’s next to the outside lane. The other piece, the “D” section is the outside lane complete with guard rail. Each piece is fifty feet long and about twelve wide, sometimes up to sixteen wide if there’s a lamp post and four to eight foot tall. And heavy, call it a hundred thousand pounds each give or take a few thousand.

Oh, did I mention we’re doing it at night? There’s eight of us doing the job. Eight truck and drivers and quite a few more trailers.

A typical day (you gotta start somewhere) begins at around three pm. That’s generally as late as I can manage to sleep. And I TRY hard to sleep. I’m tired all the time on this job and I need all the sleep I can get. I wake up and start the coffee and ask my self for the zillionth time. “Self…what the HELL were you thinking?” So, I conjugate for a little bit and drink much coffee and smoke a ceegar. Then get out of the truck and begin my tie down procedure.

Specialized load… specialized equipment…. special way of tying down. This takes me a couple of hours. Including flagging, raggin and rigging lites. Then I wait. If I could have slept longer I would have, less waiting, but something ALWAYS wakes me up too early.

So I wait. The other three guys do the same. About nine thirty the cops show up and we’re off. The first two trucks take off, complete with front and rear civilian escorts for each truck AND two (or more) state patrol.

About an hour later it’s our turn. Me and George, number three and number four trucks. I’ve got the center piece and he’s got the railing.

The “coordinator” ( an escort who’s the go between everyone involved) gives us the word, a cop parks on the shoulder of the thruway just before my “get-on” ramp, another cop blocks the ramp behind me….and I pull out.

to be continued…

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