New York/New Jersey Port Authority Board Awards Contract to Raise the Bayonne Bridge Roadway

The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on April 24 awarded a $743.3 million contract as part of a $1.29 billion program to increase the navigational clearance of the Bayonne Bridge. The project will raise the deck by 64 feet and provide drivers with a roadway with 12-foot lanes, shoulders, a median divider and a 12-foot bike and pedestrian walkway. The design incorporates future mass transit options across the span.

Raising the roadway of the 81-year-old bridge’s main deck by 64 feet will allow post-Panamax ships to pass under the structure to and from port terminals in New York and New Jersey, including Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal and New York Container Terminal. Currently, the seaport handles approximately 30 percent of U.S. East Coast container traffic and supports more than 280,000 jobs.

The Bayonne Bridge project is the first time in the agency’s history that engineers will construct a bridge roadway deck above an existing roadway, while traffic continues to flow on the deck below. Work will start later this year, with deck removal scheduled for late 2015.  

According to the port authority, the bridge project will create more than 2,500 construction jobs for the region, $380 million in wages and more than $1.6 billion in economic activity.  

American Association of Port Authorities
Asociación Americana de Autoridades Portuarias
1201 Maryland Ave SW, Suite 860, Washington, D.C. 20024
E: info@aapa-ports.org
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