Governor Phil Murphy and NJ TRANSIT announced the issuance of the “Notice to Proceed” on the new Portal North Bridge project. The bridge, which is part of the larger Gateway Program, will improve capacity and reliability for rail travel between New Jersey and New York City.
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.
In October, Governor Murphy and NJ TRANSIT announced the approval of a $1,559,993,000 construction contract awarded to Skanska/Traylor Bros PNB Joint Venture (STJV) for the construction of the new Portal North Bridge. The contract represents the single largest construction award in NJ TRANSIT’s history.
The Portal North Bridge 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. The Notice to Proceed (NTP) to STJV signifies start of the construction contract which is anticipated to take approximately five and a half years to complete.
The Portal North Bridge project will eliminate the 110-year-old swing bridge which has been the enduring source of major service disruptions for NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak customers traveling on the Northeast Corridor.
The old Portal North Bridge will be replaced with a new modern two-track, high-level, fixed-span bridge that will improve service and capacity along this section of the Northeast Corridor. The new Portal North Bridge will rise 50-feet over the Hackensack River and will allow marine traffic to pass underneath without interrupting rail traffic.
The Portal North Bridge project is a critical component of the larger Gateway Program which will eventually double rail capacity between Newark and New York.
-via Press Release