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    • Cuomo Bridge builders defend their work, say Thruway pays lawyers for debt
    Enterprise

    Cuomo Bridge builders defend their work, say Thruway pays lawyers for debt

    Idris Bevan Posted on

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    The New York State Thruway Authority would rather shower lawyers with money than pay off its debts, the consortium that built the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge said today.

    A day after the Thruway Authority sued Tappan Zee Constructors for breach of contract, claiming that portions of the line between Westchester and Rockland needed to be retrofitted, the four-company consortium responded.

    “The tax and toll funds used to pay NYSTA’s legal fees would be far better spent paying off NYSTA’s debts and addressing the problems with the 9% of New York State bridges that are in disrepair,” Tappan Zee Constructors said in a statement.

    According to the Thruway Authority, 61 of the 192 anchor pipes used to connect cables to the bridge’s main span will need to be repaired in the coming months because they do not meet contract standards.

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    Government officials say that while this is not a public safety issue, the pipes are not as durable as the consortium promised.

    Builders defend their work

    The consortium of experienced bridge builders – Fluor Enterprises, Inc., American Bridge Company, Granite Construction Northeast, Inc. and Traylor Bros. – defended its work on the $4 billion twin bridge, which opened to traffic in 2017.

    “TZC fully stands behind the high quality of our work and the caliber of the bridge and is entitled to compensation for that work. Therefore, we will continue to work toward our full rehabilitation,” the statement continued.

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    The billing dispute became public in 2021 when TZC sued the Thruway Authority, claiming it was owed about $960 million. The lawsuit was dropped months later when both sides agreed to enter into dispute resolution proceedings.

    Three years later, the two sides were still hundreds of millions of dollars apart.

    In December, an advisory panel said Thruway owed TZC $101.5 million.

    Months later, Thruway CEO Frank Hoare said TZC owed the Thruway $15.6 million and another $111.4 million for remediation work. Taking into account a contract balance, Thruway said it was owed more than $63 million.

    Panel side with TZC

    According to TZC, Thruway ignored the recommendations of its own advisory panel.

    “…Their position ignores the non-binding recommendation of NYSTA’s Advisory Panel that entitles TZC to substantial reimbursement of costs and interest,” the statement continued.

    According to Thruway, TZC refused to redo the work on the anchor pipes. The lawsuit seeks $6 million in damages.

    The developers said they wanted a “fair and quick solution” to the dispute.

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    “It is unfortunate that NYSTA does not share our goal and instead chooses to continue paying attorneys thousands of dollars per hour for unnecessary litigation to recoup costs, even though TZC has not only funded a significant portion of the project to date, but has also delivered an excellent project that has met contract requirements,” the statement continued.

    In 2016, before the opening, the Thruway Authority spent $1 million on a team of experts to determine why the bolts holding the new bridge’s beams in place had failed. The experts concluded that the bridge was safe.

    Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. Over a decades-long career that has included stints at the New York Daily News, the Star-Ledger of Newark and the Record of Hackensack, he has won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others. Reach him at [email protected].

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    Idris Bevan
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