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WPCNR Federal Law Journal From the Office of Congressman Mondaire Jones. (Thruway statement included by WPCNR) March 15, 2021:

Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) sent a letter on Friday to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urging the Department of Transportation (DOT) to open an investigation into potential structural deficiencies on the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

The letter follows a report from the Albany Times Union earlier this week that raised serious questions about the integrity of the bolts used to construct the bridge, which runs through the heart of New York’s 17th Congressional District.

(Editor’s Note: The New York State Thruway Authority has vehemently denied that report saying an investigation done five years ago found the bolts in place to be structurally sound. NBC News 4 was the first to report the investigation three years ago. The Thruway issued this statement in response to the Times Union article:

“Broken bolts: Structural problems on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge were covered up,” the Times Union makes unfortunate, misleading, and erroneous statements that irresponsibly portrays an alarming and unsafe situation — one which is certainly not the case. First and foremost, the bridge has been and continues to be safe for the traveling public.

The article also implies that the Thruway Authority tried to cover up this issue or did not act in a timely manner. Upon learning of the allegations of bolt failures in 2016, not only did the Thruway Authority immediately inform the Inspector General, we spent more than one million dollars and engaged world-renowned subject matter experts, developed a testing program, conducted extensive studies, and tested well over five hundred bolts.

The tests confirmed that the bolts met or exceeded the requirements set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).  The very small number of bolts that were broken is not a cause for safety concern on such a large bridge consisting of more than one million bolts.

It is important to note that there is no concern of hydrogen embrittlement.

Additionally, all bolts tested were coated in Geomet, as required. None were hot-dipped galvanized. All experts agree that the steel is not defective. Prior to opening the bridge in August 2017, the experts concluded that the safety of the bridge was in no way compromised.

In addition to the extensive testing and analysis already performed, the entire structure is routinely inspected and monitored, and during our most recent biennial inspection, we found no additional bolt failures of concern. These inspection results match the findings of our testing program which concluded that future bolt failures, if any, will be extremely rare and inconsequential.

To be clear, the massive bolted steel plate connections on the girders are not in any danger of failing and the bridge is safe.

A typical bolted connection has more than 500 bolts. The built-in redundancy of the bridge system allays any potential concerns that a failure would occur.

To incite a lack of confidence in the traveling public is just reckless, irresponsible and unsound journalism. Public safety is our highest priority and shame on the Times Union for their inaccurate assertions and mischaracterizations.

As much as we would like to share more information, we are unable to discuss it further at this time. )

)“The Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge is at the heart of New York’s 17th Congressional District and serves thousands of New Yorkers and out-of-state travelers every day,” Congressman Jones wrote. “As many as 144,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily. It is key to the economic success of the region and critical to the livelihood of my constituents, many of whom use the bridge to commute to and from work. Therefore, the importance of this issue to my district cannot be overstated. New Yorkers deserve to have confidence in the safety of the bridge, especially those whose livelihoods depend on the bridge.” 

“The new Tappan Zee Bridge is a critical component of our local economy, and it is imperative that the bridge is safe for New Yorkers to travel across,” said State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick. “Any safety failures or attempts to cover up safety concerns are completely unacceptable. My colleagues and I will work swiftly to get to the bottom of this issue.”