Long-running project pay dispute between design-build team and NY State Thruway Authority may be partially resolved soon
Rival legal teams have reached a critical juncture as they consider a mediated settlement in one of two major payment lawsuits pending between a design-build contracting team and the New York State Thruway Authority over construction of the more than $3-billion Mario M. Cuomo Bridge north of New York City.
The contractors seek about $930 million in unpaid costs from the authority, which counters that it faces tens of millions in expenses to replace defectively installed cable stay anchors on the bridge.
The cable-stayed bridge, which crosses the Hudson River 15 miles north of the city and opened in two phases in 2017 and 2016, replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge that dated to 1955. The new 3.1-mile span carries 140,000 vehicles daily and has helped ease traffic congestion and improve driving safety.
The design-build team, known as Tappan Zee Constructors, is composed of Fluor Corp., Granite Construction Inc., Traylor Bros. Inc. and American Bridge Co. All are named as co-defendants in the lawsuit along with their co-sureties.
Both sides have asked a state court judge in Albany to allow more time to consider the outlines of a settlement that could end half of a legal doubleheader being played in the state Supreme Court and in the state Court of Claims.
In-person settlement talks in the state Supreme Court case took place April 22 and 23 with mediator Andrew Ness. The two sides exchanged term sheets that would provide the basis for a settlement, wrote Timothy Froessel of law firm Holland & Knight, which represents the authority, in a letter to the court. Judge Richard Platkin granted the parties until June 1 to report on the status of the mediation and whether there had been progress toward a settlement.
Ongoing Disputes
The earliest court battles over the bridge project began when the design-build team sued to have the authority turn over records that the contracting team requested. In February 2021, the consortium filed a new lawsuit in the state Court of Claims seeking more than $923 million in unapproved and disputed changes and delays attributed to the authority, plus another $30.1 million for changes that were approved.
In August 2024, the authority launched a fresh legal counterattack.
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NY Cuomo Bridge Lawsuit Focuses on Stay Cable Anchors
In a complaint it alleged that the design-build consortium refused to fulfill its obligation to retrofit edge-girder anchor pipes for 61 of 192 bridge stay cables that an agency-commissioned independent safety review found do not meet material requirements.
That lawsuit came three years after the authority rejected all but $28 million of the design-build team’s $930-million claim of extra construction costs.
Tension over documents related to the work—and accusations by the contractor that the authority was slow-walking requested document releases—have been a feature of the conflict since 2019.
As recently as January, Paul Monte, a New York City-based partner of law firm Peckar & Abramson, which represents the design-build team, had complained to state Supreme Court Judge Platkin that the authority was slow in turning over requested documents.
Although this would have no bearing on the case before the state Court of Claims, legal sources say, avoiding a full trial in the state court case would save tens of millions of dollars in attorney and expert consultant fees and document production. «Both sides have motivation to settle,» said one attorney.
