The New York mayor’s office has announced that materials from the Staten Island Expressway, Erie Canal, and the Kew Gardens and Kosciuszco bridges will be used to create the largest artificial reef expansion in New York State history.
Almost 1,000 tons of material has been donated to the project, including steel bridge girders, pipes and a section of a lift bridge. The debris will be cleaned of contaminants before being moved two miles offshore and sunk at the 744-acre site of the Fire Island reef.
Other materials that will be added include scrap from former steel vessel M/V Hudson, 700 tons of jetty stone, 1,808 cubic yards of Tappan Zee Bridge concrete decking and pipe piles.
Andrew Cuomo, New York’s governor, said: "New York State is doing more than any state in the US when it comes to climate change and protecting the environment.
"Reefs are great for the environment and the economy, and the new reefs created under our comprehensive artificial reef programme are already incredibly successful.
"We are going to continue this success by bolstering the Fire Island reef with an assortment of material, and show that New York, and Long Island in particular, can and will be the showcase to demonstrate how to build a green economy and a green environment for the rest of the nation."
Image: Andrew Cuomo announcing the Artificial Reef Initiative in 2018 (Kevin Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo)
