PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Portal Bridge is a two-track, moveable, swing-span bridge that crosses over the Hackensack River in Hudson County, New Jersey connecti ng Newark, New Jersey and Penn Stati on, New York. This secti on of the Northeast Corridor is used solely by Am-trak and New Jersey Transit commuter rail service. Constructed over a century ago, the bridge is one of the oldest pieces of infra-structure along the Northeast Corridor. Due to its age and inten-sity of use, the bridge is costly and diffi cult to maintain in work-ing order. The bridge, which hosts about 450 trains per weekday, creates a bott leneck along the busy Northeast Corridor that con-fl icts with marine traffi c, limits operati ng speeds and impedes effi cient and reliable passenger rail service. The bridge requires replacement in order to meet expected future travel demand.

Amtrak and New Jersey Transit have completed several planning studies over the years culminati ng with fi nal design and federal environmental review to replace the aging bridge. The result is planned constructi on of a new bridge known as Portal North Bridge. The Portal North Bridge is designed as a new two-track, high-level, fi xed span bridge, eliminati ng the moveable compo-nents and risk of malfuncti on. Its design also eliminates the navi-gati onal confl icts caused by the present bridge. The new bridge

was esti mated to cost approximately $940 million in 2013 dol-lars and will proceed with the cooperati on of New Jersey Tran-sit and Amtrak, as soon as funding can be secured. The recently completed design process involved a preliminary design phase for which costs of $31 million were shared between New Jersey Transit and Amtrak, and fi nal design, funded by a Federal Rail-road Administrati on grant of $38.5 million.

A second, two-track Portal South Bridge is proposed as part of the Gateway Program and when complete will double train ca-pacity along this criti cal length of the Northeast Corridor. Plan-ning and design of Portal South Bridge will be fi nalized following the completi on of the federal NEC FUTURE study and environ-mental review process.

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Amtrak Northeast Corridor Infrastructure & Investment DevelopmentSPRING 2015

PORTAL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT

PROJECT SUMMARYTimeline Esti mated 5-year constructi on period

Cost $940 million (2013 esti mate)

Partners New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and US DOT Federal Rail-road Administrati on

The Portal Bridge Replacement Project will replace an aging obsolete bridge with a new fi xed-span bridge resulti ng in enhanced capacity and reliability along the Northeast Corridor.

Portal North Bridge, a new fi xed-span, high-level bridge, is fully designed and ready for constructi on.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Eliminates moveable span—The existi ng bridge has a move-able swing span that due to age and design is not capable of meeti ng the future travel demand along the Northeast Corridor. Built as a fi xed span bridge, the new Portal North Bridge will improve capacity and reliability by eliminati ng the operati onal and maintenance challenges that come with opening and closing a bridge up to several ti mes a day for mariti me traffi c.

Improves reliability—Due to several factors including age, design and a complicated maintenance schedule, service reli-ability along the existi ng Portal Bridge has become more and more problemati c. A mechanical malfuncti on during a bridge opening can cause the bridge to be open for long periods of ti me which can result in delays up and down the Northeast Corridor. Even when it does operate normally, a single bridge opening will delay many trains due to the volume of train traffi c. The constructi on of Portal North Bridge will improve

service reliability of all Amtrak intercity and New Jersey Tran-sit commuter services in one of the most heavily used rail line secti ons in the world.

Increases train speeds—While trains can operate at 90 mph on adjacent porti ons of the Northeast Corridor, speeds on the existi ng Portal Bridge have been permanently restricted to 60 mph. The constructi on of Portal North Bridge is designed for speeds up to 90 mph providing a consistent level of train op-erati on across the span.

Removes confl icts with mariti me traffi c—The existi ng Por-tal Bridge has only 23 feet of clearance between the water and the lowest elevati on of the bridge, requiring it to open for numerous marine vessels, thereby disrupti ng Northeast Corridor train operati ons. Its center pier design creates navi-gati onal confl icts for the larger vessels. The existi ng bridge is also closed to marine traffi c during the peak travel periods, making it diffi cult for marine operators to properly serve shippers. Portal North Bridge will be built as a high-level, fi xed-span bridge with 53 feet of clearance providing ample space for mariti me travel without impact to Northeast Cor-ridor train operati ons.

Visit NEC.Amtrak.com for more informati on on the Gateway Program and other NEC infrastructure investments.

Amtrak Northeast Corridor Infrastructure & Investment DevelopmentSPRING 2015

The existi ng Portal Bridge was built in 1910 and serves approximately 450 NJ Transit and Amtrak trains every weekday.

The existi ng Portal Bridge requires frequent maintenance and repairs due to its age and intensity of use.