Tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium led by Fluor Corp. for the fixed-price design-build construction of the $4-billion Tappan Zee replacement bridge north of New York City, filed suit Nov. 18 against the New York State Thruway Authority in state supreme court, confirming a previously filed $900-million claim for added payment and saying the agency is blocking document release to support it.
TZC alleges the state violated state public disclosure law by impeding its access for about 18 months to records for the 3.1-mile, twin-span Gov. Mario M. Cuomo bridge across the Hudson River, which opened in September 2018.
A consortium spokeswoman declined further detail on the claim.
The authority “has intentionally delayed producing the requested records to frustrate TZC’s ability to advance claims that it has made … and is attempting to resolve pursuant to [the project] contract’s dispute resolution provisions,” says the suit.
TZC contends that since April 2018, “on a monthly basis, [the agency] has unilaterally extended its time to respond, without objecting to producing a particular document or category of documents … or otherwise providing any specific basis to deny all or part of the request.”
Among documents TZC seeks are records of 2016, 2017 and 2018 project budgets, 2016 and 2017 state funding, contingency amounts in agency budgets and agency-to-state comptroller correspondence on payment requests.
TZC’s suit acknowledges receiving “partially redacted” documents but says the authority “has delayed review and resolution of … claims.”
An authority spokeswoman says the project “remains within its $3.98-billion budget and the claim filed by the contractor is obviously nothing more than an ineffective negotiating tactic.”
