Logs salvaged from the original Tappan Zee Bridge have come to Pine Plains and are being repurposed as small buildings and other products offered by the town’s newest business, Apex Modular Solutions.
The logs, mostly from larch trees, were submerged to protect the steel piers supporting the Tappan Zee Bridge, which was unveiled in 1955, spanning one of the widest points of the Hudson River to link the New York cities of Tarrytown and Nyack. Three million board feet of wood – a board foot being 1 square foot in area and 1 inch thick — were used in the construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge, which was replaced in 2017 by the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
Apex obtained about one million board feet of the salvaged material, according to company president Issa Nesheiwat, who presided over an opening ceremony on June 17. “We hope to use up all the Tappan Zee wood with repurposed, useful and beneficial structures,” he said. The company offers a variety of products ranging from benches, decks and fences to small party barns and tiny houses and ADUs, or accessory dwelling units.
A sampling of the small buildings Apex creates from the reused wood are on display at 7702 South Main St. on property owned by Dale Mitchell, adjacent to Stewart’s. Apex workers have playfully constructed what Nesheiwat called a mini-Tappan Zee Bridge across a small stream adjacent to the site. While Apex’s main office is in Poughkeepsie, the company chose Pine Plains for an open-air showcase because of its “community,
location and rural environment,” he added. The company serves customers across New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. They are seeking customers in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. In addition to its salvaged-wood small builds, Apex also sells standard modular houses produced by manufacturers in Pennsylvania, Maine and South Carolina.
Nesheiwat, who previously worked in financial services, speaks enthusiastically about the potential of his repurposed wood and modular products to provide affordable housing options in the region. The Apex brochure and website show off a variety of tiny and small homes that customers can design themselves and have delivered. Tiny homes start at $70,000 while larger ranch-style homes can begin at $125,000. “We can have homes ready for people in 12 to 17 weeks,” Nesheiwat stated.
To Dale Mitchell, Let’s talk about reclaiming barnwood.