The first of the three huge support arches for the 1.7 billion dollars Portal North Bridge recently traveled 30 hours across the Hudson River to the project’s job site spanning the Hackensack River in New Jersey. The 2.5-mile, fixed-track crossing, which will replace a 114-year-old swing bridge, is a key component of the $33.7 billion Gateway program that will double rail capacity between Newark, NJ and New York City.
Three tugboats, a heavy transport barge and a spacer barge towed the 5-million-pound, 400-foot-long, 50-foot-wide bow at an average of about 5.75 miles per hour down the Hudson River, starting at Port of Coeymans, nearby. Albany, NY Two more massive support arches will be driven into the project site in February.
The project is on time and on budget at 50 percent completion, says Kevin S. Corbett, NJ TRANSIT President and CEO.
“The arrival of the first arch at the Portal North Bridge site marks an important milestone in the transformation of the Northeast Corridor into a more reliable transit route for tens of thousands of daily commuters,” Corbett said in a statement after the arrival of the bow on November 26. “Through this project, NJ TRANSIT is proud to demonstrate that even in the Northeast, where megaprojects have historically faced delays and cost overruns, it is possible to deliver a transformational project on time and within budget”.
Three tugs, a heavy transport barge and a spacer barge towed a 5-million-pound, 400-foot-long, 50-foot-wide bow down the Hudson River in late November.
Photos by Andy Ryan, courtesy of HNTB.
The project scope of work includes retaining walls, deep foundations, concrete piers, structural steel bridge spans, rail systems and demolition of the existing bridge. Principal Structural Engineer HNTB designed the new river bridge and portions of the approach spans and associated retaining walls over the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands. The project is being built by a joint venture between Skanska and Traylor Brothers.
Michael Viggiano, executive vice president of civil operations for Skanska’s East Coast, said in a statement that the arrival of the arch is “a step forward in providing a modernized structure that will greatly impact the hundreds of thousands of daily commuters and New Jersey residents who depend on this corridor.”
Chris Traylor, co-president of Traylor Bros. Inc., said: “Complex infrastructure projects of this scale succeed only through strong partnerships capable of overcoming significant challenges.”
New Jersey Transit’s largest construction contract in the agency’s history is funded by the United States Department of Transportation, the states of New Jersey and New York and Amtrak. The Portal North Bridge project is a critical component of the larger Gateway program, which will ultimately double rail capacity between Newark and New York.
“Together, we are transforming the Portal North Bridge into an access point that will provide our rail passengers with more reliable travel and our entire region with economic opportunity,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. (D) he said in a statement. “We are now proud to be one step closer to rebuilding our regional infrastructure and ensuring that America’s largest public works project continues to move forward.”
