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The county’s sheriff’s office recently urged mariners of all sorts to pay strict attention to guidelines set up by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Fatalities have been known to occur. Back in March, three tugboat crew members were killed when their 84-foot vessel slammed into a construction barge beneath the span and sank.
In 2013, two people were killed and two people injured when their boat crashed at night into a construction barge. The fatal accident raised safety questions and led to lawsuits. The driver of the boat, who admitted he was drunk at the time, got two years behind bars.
In 2015, a Thruway Authority maintenance barge got stuck under the old span.
The year before, at least three barges got away from their mooring and one of them floated 13 miles down the river before it was secured.
Boaters are advised to steer clear of all overhead work and to keep a safe distance of 1,000 feet from all construction equipment and support vessels, the sheriff’s office said.
Vessels should use the center 600 feet of the main channel to navigate in a north-south direction with “no wake or maximum speed of five knots,” according to Coast Guard guidelines.
Because of the construction work, partial or full closures of the main channel will happen periodically, it said.
To get information about closures, click here, or visit the U.S. Coast Guard First District Local Notice to Mariners.
The Coast Guard has established a safety zone surrounding 16 construction barge mooring locations. No unauthorized vessels are allowed in those zones. The zones are marked by lighted buoys and lighted channel markers provide recreational boater access to the Piermont waterfront.
The Coast Guard also established Regulated Navigation Areas east and west of the safety zone. These stretch 500 yards north and 500 yards south of the existing bridge. Vessels cannot stop, moor, anchor or loiter in these areas.
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