Theresa Juva-Brown

tjuva@lohud.com

The I Lift NY super crane is still getting warmed up before it makes any mind-blowing lifts.

With much fanfare, including a welcome from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the famous floating crane — officially named the Left Coast Lifter — arrived at the Tappan Zee Bridge earlier this month.

But it's not ready for major action just yet, Ro DiNardo, construction services manager for Tappan Zee Constructors, told The Journal News.

"We're still in the process of fine-tuning it — there is some stuff we are testing," he said. "If we wanted we could probably get it working in a couple weeks, but we just want to make sure everything is complete."

Later this year the herculean machine is expected to help move four foundation tubs that are too heavy for any other crane, he said. It will also hoist steel beams for the the new bridge's roadway, and starting in 2017, it will assist with dismantling the current span.

The crane's boom is 30 stories high when it's fully extended, and it can lift objects weighing up to 2,000 tons.

It was custom made for the San Francisco Bay Bridge project, where it earned the Left Coast Lifter title. When it departed California in January, New York leaders dubbed it the I Lift NY super crane.

The project team also revealed new tidbits about the king of cranes:

• What sets it apart from other floating cranes is a system of separate tanks inside its 400-foot barge. Water can be pumped in and out to control the level of the barge. When the super crane had to be moved to the north side of the Tappan Zee this month, crews pumped more than two million gallons of water into the tanks to lower the barge. The machine cleared the bridge by a few feet.

• It runs on a sophisticated computer system, which uses wind and load weight sensors to keep the crane stable as it moves and lifts.

• Super cranes require super-careful handling. Operators must have years of training and experience before they can run a complex floating crane.

Want to talk about the Tappan Zee and offer us feedback on our coverage? Join transportation reporters Theresa Juva-Brown and Khurram Saeed for an informal chat at Pierson Park in Tarrytown at 11 a.m. on Nov. 1. The meet-up includes coffee and snacks.