The second construction contract for the construction of the new Raritan River Bridge (River Draw) was recently awarded by the NJ Transit Board of Directors. The bridge that lies on the North Jersey Coast Line will get a lift on a part of its structure.
The current 166-year-old 2,920-foot Raritan River Bridge stretching between Perth Amboy and South Amboy will have a vertical lift on its center portion. This will allow for easy marine traffic flow, replacing the old movable swing-span bridge to allow for vessel passage. Once complete, the new bridge will be a twin-track movable span bridge.
The President and CEO of NJ Transit, Kevin Corbett, termed the replacement of the Raritan River Bridge as the “most critical resiliency project” on the North Jersey Coast Line. He also made emphasis on the importance of the project, stating that it will critical in “ensuring a more reliable and robust rail link for thousands of daily customers on the North Jersey Coast Line”.
Cost for the bridge replacement project
The latest construction contract for the new Raritan River Bridge has been awarded to Skanska Koch of Carteret. The cost for the project is at an overall of $595 million. This has also been catered for in part by the $444 million in federal grant. The federal grant came after Sandy as part of the federal Emergency Relief Program for resiliency projects.
In addition to this cost is the 5% for contingency on the construction of several parts of the project. Those included in an official statement by NJ Transit include: the lift bridge, flanking spans, overhead catenary, among others.
The Raritan River Bridge connects Newark, NJ, to Manhattan, NY, and serves more than 11,000 commuters daily. As part of the 17 rail links between NJ and NY, and of the 20 New Jersey Coast Line stations, the bridge connects Perth Amboy and South Amboy stations and serves the freight service: Conrail.
Reasons for replacement of the Raritan River Bridge
The bridge needs replacement because of reasons not limited to the following:
- Damage to critical bridge components
- Misalignment of the bridge deck
- Vulnerability to extreme weather conditions, like Hurricane Sandy that did some real damage
- Improvement to marine traffic flow
New features after replacement
The replaced bridge will feature the following engineering make-overs: New –
- reinforced concrete piers on piles
- off-line replacement
- steel superstructure
- drive motor and electrical control
- vertical profile, among others
June 2020 saw the awarding of the first construction contract to George Harris Construction. Focus of the first contract was on the approaches to the new bridge. This also included the fabrication of the four span poles to be thereafter erected on-site.
The above stated construction changes will supplement what was previously achieved in the first phase. Official communication has also pointed out that the necessary environmental, demolition and civil work will be adhered to. These were majorly completed in 2017 with the issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact for the bridge replacement project by the FTA. The design phase for the new bridge started soon after and was completed a year later.
These will also help with the construction of the fender system and the navigational channel underneath the new bridge. The bridge will still be in use (with interruptions) as the transit authority already made repairs to the bridge’s supporting piers.
Also read: Portal North Bridge construction updates: Project reaches 75% completion on time and on budget
