What’s so special about a concrete piling? For North Carolina’s Outer Banks, it means quite a bit, especially when it’s the first of many to support a new bridge.
When “I Lift NY,” formerly known as the Left Coast Lifter—one of the world’s largest floating cranes—hoisted a 645-ton crossbeam into place this February, it marked a milestone in the construction of the $3.9-billion replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, 30 miles north of New York City.
The 321-ft-long, 24-ft-wide structure is the only floating bridge in the U.S. composed of glued laminated timber approach ramps connected to a 261-ft-long floating span, which is supported by fiber-reinforced polymer pontoons.