Feds, state probe Tappan Zee Bridge crane collapse
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A joint federal and state investigation seeks to determine what led a crane to collapse across the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the crane operator at the controls when the 250-foot boom crashed onto the bridge had little time to react when factors beyond his control set in a motion a near-fatal mishap, a union official said Wednesday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is pushing for quick answers from the state's Department of Labor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about what triggered the crane to crash over, shutting off travel in both directions on the Hudson River span for hours. The bridge connects Rockland and Westchester counties north of New York City.
“It’s very important to us that we find out exactly what it was," he said, speaking Wednesday at an unrelated event in New York City.
"We had 28 cranes on the project," he said. "By the way, we have hundreds of hundreds of cranes operating across the state, you have hundreds of cranes operating in New York City.”
The crane that collapsed was operating a vibrating hammer to drive piles for the replacement Tappan Zee Bridge, which is being constructed parallel to the existing span.
Six of the bridge's seven travel lanes were reopened to traffic by Tuesday evening. But the seventh lane, the most southerly lane, is still closed after suffering significant damage, including a "punch through" — a hole in the road deck through which the Hudson River is visible — and a hole in the exterior barrier. The closure affects traffic bound for Westchester County.
Wednesday morning, Cuomo said he expects that lane to be open in a "matter of days, not weeks."
“We want it to be safe," he said. "I don’t have a hard deadline, but I would say days not weeks.”
Diana Cortez, the area director for OSHA's Tarrytown, N.Y., office, said a structural engineer from the agency's national office has been dispatched for this investigation.
In investigating workplace incidents, OSHA looks to determine what happened and create recommendations to prevent similar events in the future. Their investigations are completed within six months, because of a statute of limitations.
Jeff Loughlin, the business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137 in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., said the operator could do nothing to stop the boom as it descended rapidly under its own weight.
“It happens so fast you don’t have time to think. You just react,” said Loughlin.
“Was it human error?” Loughlin said before answering his own question. “No.”
Among the pieces of evidence investigators have is a so-called black box inside the crane that records data, Loughlin said.
As state and federal officials probe the causes of Tuesday’s accident, Loughlin came to the defense of a crane operator with more than 30 years of experience. Loughlin said the operator had performed similar operations on the bridge dozens of times over.
The crane, made by Manitowoc Cranes, was the only one of its kind working on the $3.9 billion bridge project.
Loughlin said it’s too early to tell exactly what went wrong until state and federal officials conduct their investigation.
"They’re trying to decipher what went wrong,” Loughlin said.
He declined to identify the crane operator.
“He was a little rattled,” said Loughlin, himself a veteran crane operator with more than 30 years of experience. “You start to think about what could have happened. He walked around dazed for a while.”
He said the operator took Wednesday off and probably will not be at work Thursday until talk of the accident dies down.
Loughlin said he was amazed that the boom managed to avoid killing anyone despite falling on six lanes of traffic.
Many of the area's highest profile crane accidents have happened in New York City, though some of those accidents were determined to be the result of malfeasance.
In February, a pedestrian was killed and three more injured when a crane fell over in the Tribeca section of Manhattan while workers were trying to secure it against rising winds.
In early 2013, a crane collapsed in Long Island City, N.Y., injuring seven construction workers working on a luxury housing development. According to media reports, the investigation focused on the wind and height of the crane.
The company that owned that crane also had been involved in a 2008 incident on the Upper East Side that killed two workers. The owner, James Lomma, was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the case.
The Queens collapse led the city to cite the crane operator and the company who leased the crane for not inspecting the equipment, failing to take proper precautions and running the rig unsafely. Each faced $64,000 in fines.
Contributing: Paste BN and the Associated Press. Follow Matt Coyne and Thomas C. Zambito on Twitter: @coynereports and @TomZambito