ArcelorMittal USA Plate helps give NY Tappan Zee Bridge long awaited facelift
03.10.2014
ArcelorMittal USA is playing a major role in a significant national infrastructure initiative by supplying high performance plate steel for the New NY Bridge project to upgrade the current Tappan Zee Bridge. The project is the largest transportation design-build project to date in the United States and one of the largest construction contracts in New York history.
All three ArcelorMittal USA Plate Mills – Burns Harbor, Coatesville and Conshohocken – are supplying high performance steel (HPS70W) to two of the projects’ major steel fabricators, High Industries and Hirschfield Industries Bridge for bridge and girder fabrication. A significant amount of Burns Harbor material was also supplied to Berg for the bridge pilings earlier in 2013. In total, the amount of ArcelorMittal plate that will ultimately be supplied for the project is about 160,000 tons.
“We are very pleased to have been selected to provide our high performance plate material for this major, historic infrastructure project,” said John Battisti, chief operating officer, ArcelorMittal USA Plate. “Our USA plate team has been keenly involved in weekly meetings with our customers on the planning, development and delivery of these plate products, to ensure they are pleased with our performance during all phases of the project.”
At a total cost of $3.9 billion, the 3.1-mile twin span cable-stayed bridge with angled main span towers is the single largest bridge construction project in New York’s history. The bridge will revitalize the existing Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Toll Bridge that connects Rockland County to Westchester County over the Hudson River.
Plans for a new bridge to replace the Tappan Zee were first discussed in 1999 but, after much discussion regarding concepts and various projected costs, the project stalled. Then in 2011, under the direction of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, together with the support of President Barack Obama and the federal government, the project began to move forward. The first span of the new twin-span bridge is scheduled to open in 2016 and should be completed in 2018. The new bridge will be designed and constructed to last 100 years without major structural maintenance.
At a total cost of $3.9 billion, the bridge is being designed and built by Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC), and a consortium of some of the world's best-known design, engineering and construction firms, including Fluor, American Bridge, Granite and Traylor Bros, Inc.
The American Institute of Steel Construction president Roger Ferch said, “The award of the Tappan Zee structural steel contract to the team of fabricators High Steel Structures Inc. and Hirschfeld Industries, with material supply by ArcelorMittal USA, validates the fact that the United States steel construction industry has the capacity, capability, and collaborative spirit to meet our nation’s infrastructure needs.”
“We are in the very early stages of supplying material for this project. Delivery performance will be critical, as there is high visibility for this ‘buy American’ fabricated project.” said Jayne Atherton, division manager, order fulfillment and customer service, plate, ArcelorMittal USA. “We were awarded the business because of the proximity of our Eastern plate mills to the fabrication location, and due to the longstanding favorable business relationships with both fabrication companies. We have unique combined capabilities at all three of our plate facilities to supply 100% of the plate product: lighter gauge plate from Conshohocken, wide and heavy plate from Coatesville and long quench and temper plate from Burns Harbor. This capability combination is unavailable anywhere else in the world and really sets us apart from our competitors.”
<< Back to Our stories
