These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Amtrak/Penn 1910 Portal Bridge over Hackensack River in New Jersey
Why yet another swing bridge? Because it appears that I, as a Federal taxpayer, am going to help pay $1.5b to replace this bridge. (I'd rather pay for efficient rail travel than more roads.) Or is the $1.5b for the complete access project including a new tunnel? Nope, $1.5b is just for the bridge! The entire "Gateway" project is $24b with $10b for the tunnel. [CrainsNewYork (payware)] The new bridge is higher so that it doesn't need a movable span. I assume that is why the replacement is such an expensive bridge.
(Update: on page 11 of the Sep 2020 Trains magazine there is a little News Brief that the FTA has advanced the project to the engineering phase with a promise for more than $750m of funding for the $1.8b project.)
Amtrak continues to plan a replacement of the more than 110-year-old Portal North Bridge, a two-track, swing-span structure over the Hackensack River in Kearney and Secaucus, New Jersey. The bridge often malfunctions, causing transit delays on the busy Northeast Corridor.
“It’s about 23 feet above water and rotates to open for marine traffic. It has not worked properly more frequently than we’d like, and causes massive delays to trains,” said Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz.
Amtrak plans to replace it with a new 50-foot, high-level, fixed-span bridge that can accommodate faster trip times and boost reliability. The $1.5 billion, six-span bridge will not open and close like a movable bridge, said Schulz.
The bridge replacement is part of Amtrak’s Gateway program, which involves a series of projects aimed at doubling rail capacity between New York and New Jersey, and improving resiliency. The new Portal North Bridge and a Hudson Tunnel project comprise the program’s first phase.
The new bridge will be built to the north of the existing structure, which eventually will be dismantled. The new bridge will feature 10 percent more capacity.
The project has a five-year construction schedule and the bridge has been designed, said Schulz.
Amtrak has collected half of project costs from local partners and applied to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for a core capital program grant. The railroad is awaiting the FTA’s review. For now, Amtrak has performed some early work for the project.
At some point, the railroad also expects to replace the Portal South Bridge with a comparable structure, said Schulz. ProgressiveRailroading
I saved a satellite image since this bridge is supposed to be replaced.
"Portal is considered one of the busiest railroad bridges in the western hemisphere, used by up to 200,000 passengers a day. When it gets stuck, it causes long lasting problems for passengers." Two problems closing it in one day delayed 80,000 passengers "on 16 Amtrak trains and 148 NJ Transit trains" because the second problem happened during rush hour. [www.nj.com]
William Billson posted PRR / Amtrak Portal Bridge James Kenney: William Billson Is that a dead man pedal on the floor? William Billson: James Kenney I believe so. Brian R. Wroblewski: Definitely an upgraded & updated panel if that's an older bridge.
Most of the closure problems are getting the miter rails to extend across the gaps and lock into position. "Sometime workers have to use sledge hammers to bang the miter rails between the bridge and land back into the locked position. On Nov. 23, 1996, an eastbound Amtrak train derailed on the Portal Bridge and sideswiped a westbound Amtrak train. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the incident on the miter rails." [www.nj.com]
Replacing Portal Bridge will increase capacity and ensure reliability for the more than 450 NJ TRANSIT & Amtrak trains a day that cross it. We thank U.S. Department of Transportation, our partners at Federal Transit Administration & Federal Railroad Administration, and the NJ Congressional Delegation for their support of this shovel-ready project.
Vishal ParmarAbout damn time! That bridge should’ve been replaced during the 2000s or 2010s. I do hope the speeds will be faster and with the new bridge not having to open up for traffic I would hope you can arrive a lot faster in leaving or going into NYP. Mike JiranThank Chris Christie. Vishal ParmarMike Jiran he killed the tunnel. ARC was a disaster. What CC was guilty of was killing the ARC, endorsing the Gateway Plan via lip service and walked away. He didn’t fight for funding nor endorsed it and didn’t kick in any financial love that it should’ve gotten much earlier on. Christopher StephansIt needs to be at least four tracks wide. Any amount of tracks less than four will be a waste of time and money. [Several comments reflect what was on my mind: does support mean it is FUNDED?] Mike LordiWhat is response to this? https://t.co/i821yNrngs?amp=1 "Since 2016, this Editorial Board has been the lonely voice criticizing Amtrak’s $30 billion Gateway boondoggle as the wrong solution to the real need to repair two waterlogged tunnels and double trans-Hudson passenger capacity....NJT is seeking a 'core capacity' grant. Under federal law, such a project must boost ridership 'by not less than 10 percent.' But a new Portal North Bridge never could increase capacity by even a single seat, as it is a two-track substitution for a two-track bridge, carrying the same 21 peak-hour morning trains into Penn Station....In submissions to the FTA starting in 2016, NJT said that a new bridge would allow for double-decker rail cars and also longer trains, which would add 11.6% more seats to those 21 trains. But 13 of the trains were already double-deckers, and a new bridge was irrelevant to making the other eight multi-level or lengthening trains."
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William Billson posted
PRR/Amtrak Portal bridge in Kearny NJ.
rtands
[It appears that Amtrak's original plan was to build new tunnels and then economically fix the old tunnels because trains could be diverted to the new tunnels. Now Amtrak needs to figure out how to fix tunnels while they handle over 450 trains a day. It is a shame that Trump is spending money on a wall instead of new tunnels.]
safe_image for Project to Repair Century-Old NJ Rail Bridge Gets $800 Million Boost From Feds
"Nearly 200,000 people and 450 trains cross the bridge each day during normal times....A study released last year found that passengers traveling between New Jersey and New York had experienced rail delays of five hours or more about 17 times per year in recent years. About three-quarters were attributable to problems with the tunnel and the rest were due to problems with the bridge."
A comment on a post: "Portal bridge is far beyond its replacement age. The planned replacement is well underway and the design is a massive elevated fixed structure over the Hackensack River."
safe_image for Issues at Portal Bridge to continue into weekend for NJ Transit, Amtrak [Mother's Day weekend: May 13, 2023] "Delays, but few cancellations, expected as work continues to address signal problems....A total of 11 outbound and two inbound NJ Transit trains were cancelled during [Friday's] afternoon rush hour and into this evening....An Amtrak spokesman said a contractor “caused an electrical issue affecting critical systems” at the site." The problems began Thursday.
5/2024 - From a Philadelphia-bound Acela we got this shot of the new Portal Bridge under construction over the Hackensack River outside of NYC. The current bridge opened in 1910 and hosts 450 trains per day as of 2015 according to Wiki.
(new window) Boats can be restricted, but it requires government officials that are willing to use their brains. Sailboats can go on the Chicago river just twice a week in the Spring and Fall. And they can go only to the lake in the Spring and from the lake in the Fall. Barge operators use the river year round, but they are required to use towboats with retractable pilothouses. And I'll bet that when they move cranes on a barge to a construction site that they don't do it during rush hour.
Jul 10, 2024: Halfway done, and it is on time and on budget.
A 13:15 video discussing the impact of this bridge construction on tug traffic. It does have some interesting timelapse video in some parts as he talks about the issues. It is not just a talking head.
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