NYS Thruway Authority Files Suit Against Cuomo Bridge Builders

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A lawsuit filed by the New York State Thruway Authority accuses the builders of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge of failing to live up to agreed upon contract standards.

The relatively new bridge that spans the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester cost $3.98 billion to build, but thruway officials said it could cost millions to retrofit parts that were not built to withstand the rigors of time as contractually agreed.

The Thruway Authority argues that the consortium that built the bridge and its insurers are obligated to bankroll the repairs.

"As a direct result of [Tappan Zee Constructor's] breaches of the contract, [New York State Thruway Authority] has incurred or will incur substantial expenses, including but not limited to costs of investigation, additional inspections and correction of work that does not meet contract requirements," lawyers for the Thruway Authority said in the court filing.

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"The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is committed to ensuring contractor compliance to guarantee the toll payers get what they paid for in the construction of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which independent experts have confirmed is safe," Thruway spokesperson Jennifer Givner told Patch in a statement. "NYSTA and Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC) have a dispute regarding material compliance of several stay cable anchorage components. NYSTA asserts that these components are not contractually compliant and require remediation. TZC has disagreed and refused to act in accordance with their contract. To ensure contract compliance, NYSTA has filed a lawsuit to recover the costs of evaluation and remediation of these components. Simultaneously, NYSTA has begun the process to retrofit these components, under the guidance of nation-leading experts in material science, engineering and design. NYSTA has also commissioned a full independent safety review of the GMMCB, which determined that the retrofit of the components is necessary to ensure their durability and full service life that toll payers paid for."

Thruway officials told media outlets, including CBS 6 Albany and Westchester Journal News, that at the center of the dispute are the suspension cables attached to the towers and connected to the bridge deck. Some of those suspension cable connectors, known as "anchor pipes," were not built to the strength and durability requirements laid out in the contract according to the agency. In all, 61 of the 192 anchor pipes on the bridge will have to be retrofitted.

Thruway officials said that the bridge is safe, but that the costs reflect an increase of maintenance expenses and decreased durability.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly cited the minimum amount sought by the Thruway Authority as $1 billion. The minimum amount sought in the lawsuit is $1 million.