Skanska, as part of a joint venture with Traylor Brothers, is demolishing and replacing a bridge over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus, NJ. The existing two-track, “movable”, railroad swing-bridge is critical infrastructure enabling movement between destinations east and west of the Hudson River. The existing bridge's age, design and current condition, is a single point of failure on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), causing major rail traffic disruptions due to mechanical failures that inherently occur on a bridge equipped with 108(+) year-old fixtures, parts and technology. The NEC is the most heavily used passenger rail line in the US in terms of ridership and service frequency. Each weekday, nearly 300,000 passengers cross Portal Bridge on Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains between New Jersey and NYC.
The replacement consists of a new two-track fixed structure. The overall construction project will be approximately 2.44 miles in length, including a 3,660-foot-long approach span located on the west side of the river, a 2,540-foot-long approach span on the eastside of the river and, a 1,200-foot-long center span crossing directly over the Hackensack River. The project also includes construction of approximately 6,180 linear feet of railroad embankment sections located on both sides of the river to support the new tracks, as well as the construction of a new bridge over Newark/Jersey City Turnpike. Scope of work includes installation of multiple new improvements to the railroad’s typical infrastructure systems, including the track, catenary, electrification, communications, signaling systems, and demolition of the existing bridge.
