About the Project

About the Bridge

The three-mile Tappan Zee Bridge, located about 13 miles north of New York City, carries the New York State Thruway over the Hudson River, between Rockland and Westchester Counties. The structure serves as a lifeline between New York City and Upstate New York. The bridge carries about 140,000 vehicles every day, with volumes as high as 170,000 vehicles daily. When the bridge opened in 1955, it carried an average of 18,000 vehicles daily in the first year of its opening.

The bridge is one of the largest in the United States. It carries traffic across the Hudson River via three dedicated northbound and southbound lanes; a reversible lane is located along the center of the bridge providing a total of seven travel lanes. The lane is reversed twice daily using a moveable barrier to accommodate peak period traffic on weekdays.

An Act approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor on February 28, 1956, officially named the structure the “Tappan Zee Bridge.” In pre-colonial days, this area was the home of the Tappan tribe of Native Americans; “zee” (sea) is the Dutch name for open expanse of water. In 1994, the bridge was rededicated as the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge in honor of the former New York Governor. When first built, the bridge and its approaches originally cost $80.8 million.

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Existing Bridge Conditions

Construction began on the Tappan Zee Bridge in 1952; the bridge opened to traffic in December, 1955. It was designed with a capacity of 100,000 vehicles per day. It has carried considerably higher volumes of traffic than originally intended, peaking at 170,000 vehicles per day.

Over the past 50 years, the Authority has completed several significant projects to address structural deck and steel needs on the Tappan Zee Bridge, focusing primarily on the portion of the bridge east of the main span. Recent inspections and increased emergency maintenance repairs indicate that the structural deck and fascia structural steel on the western portion of the bridge have deteriorated. Other areas of deterioration are the concrete walkway, lighting and electrical systems.

The increased need for maintenance and repair of the bridge has also resulted in more frequent unscheduled lane closures, resulting in traffic delays for bridge travelers.

Is the bridge safe? Absolutely.

The Authority is in the middle of a multi-year, $2.6 billion Capital Plan that has been designed to ensure that the Thruway's roads and bridges continue to be maintained and operated safely and efficiently. The New York State Thruway Authority follows a very stringent and thorough Bridge Inspection Program, as mandated by current Federal and State guidelines, and will continue to do so.  As part of the Bridge Inspection Program, the Tappan Zee Bridge was inspected in 2006 from May through November.  That inspection determined that there were no deficiencies requiring immediate response.

In addition to the Federal and State inspection guidelines, the Authority conducts hands-on inspections, has an 80-member crew dedicated to Tappan Zee Bridge maintenance and has installed sensors to monitor the stresses in wind bracings as related to wind speed and temperature.

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About the Deck Replacement

The deck replacement project will replace approximately 40 percent of the entire deck. This portion of the deck, including the west end of the bridge and the main truss, is in the most need of work and is therefore the most critical to replace. In previous years, the Authority replaced half of the length of the center lane of the causeway and the entire east truss deck.

When complete, the new deck, along with superstructure steel and repairs to substructure and lighting, will provide more reliable service, increase safety and add convenience for motorists using this vital east-west corridor. The deck replacement project is part of the New York State Thruway Authority’s mission to provide safe, reliable service to its customers.

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