Paper Questions Probe Of Bad MC Bridge Bolts, Officials Disagree

NYACK, NY — While the Mario Cuomo Bridge was being built over the Tappan Zee, concerns were raised about broken bolts discarded in the construction. The New York Inspector General and the state's Attorney General began investigating a possible cover-up.

A special report Sunday in the Albany Times Union alleged the investigation was "lackluster" and described allegations from a whistleblower that the problem caused structural dangers on the bridge but had been covered up.

Among other things, the media outlet reported that while the state Inspector General’s office checked into the alleged cover-up, investigators "never spoke to many of the workers who witnessed it."

In a statement issued Monday evening from the New York State Thruway Authority, Project Director Jamey Barbas, PE said the news report was wrong and irresponsible.

In Sunday’s story, “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 whistleblower case is sealed. Patch reached out to New York Attorney General Letitia James's office for comment on it and the investigation but had not heard back by the time this article was posted.

When news broke in 2018 about the AG's investigation, Tappan Zee Constructors issued a statement saying they had "fully cooperated by providing documentation, hundreds of actual bolts for testing and access to our employees. To date, all bolt testing performed by multiple parties indicates there is not an issue with the bolts."

On Monday, Jennifer Givner, director of media relations and communications at the New York State Thruway Authority, sent a statement to Patch. "As expected in any infrastructure project of this size, this project required rigorous standards for all quality control and assurance processes in both its design and construction. In 2016, independent experts began testing and later concluded that both the bolts and the bridge were safe long before either span of the bridge opened to traffic. Public safety is our highest priority and the bridge is completely safe for the traveling public."

SEE: NY AG Probes 60 Bolts Discarded During Cuomo Bridge Construction

Editor's Note: This article has been revised to include the statement from Project Director Jamey Barbas.