Recycled TZB Materials Added To Artificial Reef Off LI

Parts of the former Tappan Zee Bridge were dumped off Long Island to help expand New York’s network of artificial reefs. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Thursday deployed the first installation of recycled materials from the Hudson River bridge which is being dismantled while the construction of the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge is being completed.

“Long Island’s economy thrives when there are fish for anglers to catch and recreational opportunities to explore marine life along the coast,” Cuomo said.

“These artificial reefs are an investment in a stronger, more diverse marine ecosystem that will bolster the economy and bring a new purpose to the former Tappan Zee Bridge that will continue to serve New Yorkers for generations to come,” he said.

A total of 1,093.2 tons of materials were added to the Shinnecock Reef, which is off the south shore of Long Island. Barges dropped 885 tons of clean, recycled Tappan Zee Bridge material, as well as deconstructed New York State Department of Transportation project materials, including:

• 35 tons of triangular trusses
• 100 tons of concrete deck panels
• 750 tons of steel foundation pipes
• 6 tons of steel lattice trusses
• 13.1 tons of pieces of steel sheeting
• 37 tons of steel beams
• 13.8 tons of steel columns
• 9.4 tons of steel girders
• 0.9 tons of steel channels
• 128 tons of steel pipes

In addition, the state placed three decommissioned canal boats at the reef, including a 110-foot barge, 74-foot tugboat and 40-foot tender. The 35-acre reef is located 2 nautical miles from shore and is 85 feet deep at its deepest point.

Throughout the summer, state agencies will be deploying 33 barges of Tappan Zee Bridge recycled materials and 30 additional vessels that have been cleaned of all contaminants. A total of 43,200 cubic yards of recycled Tappan Zee Bridge material, 338 cubic yards of steel pipe from the DOT and 5,900 cubic yards of jetty rock will be submerged and added to six reef sites as part of the first phase of this initiative.

The Department of Environmental Conservation manages New York's Artificial Reef Program, which includes two reefs in the Long Island Sound, two in the Great South Bay and eight artificial reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. The major benefits of constructing New York's artificial reefs include improving the existing habitats in order to increase local marine biodiversity, stimulating more productive and diverse aquatic ecosystems and promoting environmental sustainability through fish habitat improvement.

The reefs are built out of hard, durable structures such as rock, concrete and steel pipes and usually in the form of surplus or scrap materials that are cleaned of contaminants. After materials and vessels settle to the sea floor, larger fish like blackfish, black sea bass, cod and winter and summer flounder, move in to build habitats within the new structures, and encrusting organisms such as barnacles, sponges, anemones, corals and mussels cling to and cover the material. Over time, all these structures will create habitat similar to a natural reef.

Photo credits: Gov. Andrew Cuomo.