New York state transportation officials and industry participants are scrambling to meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo's push to have work under way later this year on the $5-billion-plus replacement of the aging Tappan Zee Bridge. Four design-build teams shortlisted on Feb. 7 have yet to see a final request for proposals but have only until about mid-June to submit their detailed design and building plans, says a state transportation agency spokesman. "We've had more time on $50-million jobs," says one team executive who declined to be identified during the contracting phase.
The Hudson River span will be New York's largest bridge and the first procured under a design-build law enacted in December.