Dive Brief:

• About two dozen robot welders from a Louisiana company have been brought north to work on pilings being sunk into the Hudson River bottom to begin the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project – and that annoying both unions and open-shop contractors.
• The contractors say there are not enough spots for nonunion welders under the project labor agreement the New York State Thruway Authority, which owns the bridge, signed.
• Unions say that the Tappan Zee Contractors consortium keeps changing specifications, forcing the unions to change training for welders and bogging down the process. They also say that the 35% passing rate for candidates on welding tests is still the national average.

Dive Insight:

Each of the robots hired from Wilkinson Technologies requires a four-person team to operate and prevent problems from arising. The machines can work at about twice the speed of human welders. Success has reportedly been mixed.