A joint venture between Swedish contractor Skanska and America’s Traylor Bros has won a $1.6bn contract to replace the 110-year-old Portal Bridge between Newark, New Jersey, and New York City’s Penn Station.
The project, first announced by New Jersey Transit in 2021, has now been elaborated by the companies involved, with Skanska reporting that its share of the contract is worth $1.1bn and will be included in the US order bookings for the fourth quarter of 2021.
Work on the project involves replacing the Portal North Bridge with a two-track span 15m above the Hackensack River, allowing boats to pass underneath without interruption.
The joint venture’s scope of work includes removal of the old bridge, creation of rail bridges over adjacent roadways, retaining walls, access roads and construction of access platforms, new track configuration, traction power supply and distribution and support structures.
The bridge will form 4km of the Northeast Corridor, the longest electrified rail corridor in the US.
Construction on the bridge is due to begin in the second quarter of this year and be completed by the third quarter of 2027.
