Bridges are a very important impact on people who travel, commute to work, etc. Bridges need to be made safely and correctly in order for it to fulfil its duty to being a easy way of transportation for people to get from one place to another. Bridges have been known to collapse or fall down if built poorly, or when they get too old. That is why the Tappan Zee bridge needed to be replace so we could avoid an issue such as those.
The Tappan Zee bridge was open to the public in 1955. On October 6,2017 the bridge was retired due to many issues. Traffic was a very common occurrence on the bridge meant to hold 100,000 vehicles but on average had 140,000 vehicles commuting daily. The bridge was holding more people than it was supposed which caused a safety concern that there was too much weight on it and it would collapse. For instance, stated in a lohud article they said “the federal rating means the bridge is not up to current design features, including lane width, and it is handling more traffic than originally planned”. It was also known to the public and builders that the support of the bridge did not meet earthquake standards, and that the pilings could be exposed to the air during low tides which could cause it to decay. Another dangerous risk that could cause the bridge to come crumbling down.
The tappan zee bridge had narrow lanes and a lack of emergency shoulders. Due to these conflicts the Tappan Zee bridge had twice the average accident rate compared to the rest of the thruway. Another issue is that many people commit suicide on the bridge. There are crisis phones on the bridge but that does not stop people from jumping over. Over the course of time millions of dollars were spent to try and repair and maintain the bridge. It would have costed even more money if they did not decide to build a new bridge. When people decided it was time for a new bridge there was a lot of improvements that needed to be taken into consideration and it would require a lot of preparation. The new bridge will have 8 lanes, 4 going in each direction which will lessen the amount of traffic.
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The bridge will also provide room for emergency vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks, ambulances,etc. Bicyclists and pedestrians will also have a path, hopefully improving safety issues. Suicide is a very common issue on bridges. The new bridge will increase the amount of suicide crisis hotlines. They will also be creating a climb deterrent fencing. A high tech surveillance camera will be installed and monitored at all times. Bridge tolls are also being postponed up until 2020. This new bridge is being built well enough to be able to last 100 years without any major maintenance needed. Meanwhile, the old Tappan Zee bridge only lasted nearly 60 years. The cost of this new and highly improved bridge costed $3.98 billion. The full and complete bridge should be done sometime in 2018. The builders of the original bridge did not fulfill all safety concerns and did not put all their hard work into the bridge and rather they just rushed to get it done.
