PANYNJ OKs Bayonne Bridge contract to make room for super-sized ships

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) yesterday awarded a $743.3 million contract to a Skanska Koch Inc./Kiewit Infrastructure (JV) team as part of a $1.3 billion program to increase the navigational clearance of the 81-year-old Bayonne Bridge.

The project calls for raising the deck by 64 feet to allow super-sized, "Post-Panamax" cargo ships to pass under the structure to access port terminals in New York and New Jersey. The Panama Canal expansion, slated for completion in 2015, will result in larger, more modern ships calling on the port, PANYNJ officials said in a press release.

"The board's approval of the Bayonne Bridge project is a critical step toward preserving the Port of New York and New Jersey's standing as the premier hub port and gateway for the East Coast," said PANYNJ Chairman David Samson.

The project will entail construction of a bridge roadway deck above the existing roadway while traffic continues to flow on the deck below. Work will start later this year.

Also yesterday, the board authorized a $1.5 billion public-private partnership agreement with NYNJ Link Partnership to build a new Goethals Bridge to replace the current span, and a $15.3 million contract to Crisdel Group to resurface the Outerbridge Crossing.

To learn more about the Panama Canal expansion's impact on PANYNJ, as well as other East Coast ports and eastern railroads, read this article that appears in Progressive Railroading's April issue.