The “new New York Bridge” presents itself to IB Geography classes
Rising out of the grand Hudson River, just a few miles from the campus of EF Academy, is an engineering marvel, a bridge that will span one mile over one of the widest sections of the river. Construction began in 2013 and will continue until 2018. Crews have begun to build the bridge surface next to the current Tappan Zee Bridge, which is over sixty years old.
On January 26th, representatives from the “New New York Bridge Project” presented on campus to IB Geography classes. The representatives were invited by Rosalie Frison, IB Geography teacher. In the hour long presentation, the representatives discussed the environmental impacts, budgetary impact, traffic affect and engineering feats.
Junior IB Y1 student Zichuan Wang was very impressed with the presentation. “On the existing bridge, you can only cross in a car. On the new bridge, pedestrians will be able to use the bridge for walking, running and biking. There will be six scenic overlooks for people to enjoy the wonderful views of the Hudson River. I am looking forward to hopefully visiting the new bridge.”
In order to deepen the shallow water levels surrounding the construction site, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC conducted around-the-clock dredging of the Hudson River for four months. As a part of the New NY Bridge project’s environmental monitoring commitment, environmental stations have been installed near the construction site. They measure noise, air quality, vibration levels and other environmental indicators around the clock.
The “New NY Bridge” presented to EF Academy two years ago. They returned to present to students on our new campus and were excited to present the progress made since the last presentation. Ms. Frison frequently uses practical examples of area projects to support her lessons in IB Geography class. This presentation helps students to understand the environmental impact of a major construction project.