NJ TRANSIT awards contract for Portal North Bridge project

The project, a critical part of the Gateway Program, will eliminate the critical issues caused by operation and maintenance of the existing swing bridge that have long plagued the most heavily transited portion of the Northeast Corridor, according to an NJ TRANSIT press release.

“This construction award, which is the single largest in our agency’s history, is the culmination of more than three years of hard work and determination by NJ TRANSIT and our project partners at Amtrak,” NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett said in a statement. “NJ TRANSIT will soon begin construction on the most important infrastructure project in the nation next to the Hudson Tunnel Project, creating jobs and spurring economic growth for our region, and restoring dependable rail service to the millions of customers who count on this critical rail link between New Jersey and New York every year.”

The $1,559,993,000 construction contract for the project spans 2.44 miles of the Northeast Corridor line and includes construction of retaining walls, deep foundations, concrete piers, structural steel bridge spans, rail systems, demolition of the existing bridge, and related incidental works. Once construction begins, the construction contract is anticipated to take approximately five and a half years.

The project is being funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, NJ TRANSIT, and Amtrak. In January 2021, Governor Murphy announced the signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement which secured $766.5 million in Federal Transit Administration funding to support the project’s construction.

NJ TRANSIT says the new bridge is a modern two track, high level, fixed-span bridge that will improve service and capacity along this section of the Northeast Corridor. It will rise 50 ft over the Hackensack River and will allow marine traffic to pass underneath without interrupting rail traffic.