While the Raritan River Bridge provides a direct link between Perth Amboy and South Perth Amboy’s developing communities, it is also a major connection for coastal New Jersey residents to metropolitan New York. The bridge, which carries NJ TRANSIT’s North Jersey Coast Line, needs to be replaced with a new resilient movable bridge that will be more reliable, require less maintenance, and stand the test of time.
In a joint venture, H&H provided concept development and final design for the off-line replacement of the Raritan River Bridge and is currently providing construction phase services. The project included the design of a vertical lift bridge providing a 300’ channel, the half-mile approach spans, and more than 3000 lf of track between the Perth Amboy and South Amboy stations in NJ.
H&H provided an engineering assessment of ballasted track and open deck track alternatives for consideration on the bridge the approach spans. Concrete and steel decks were presented to the owner as options for the ballasted deck alternatives. Direct fixation railroad track designs were also presented as part of the Preliminary Engineering Study. The final design phase included the design of a ballasted deck track structure utilizing Urethane railroad ties on a steel deck plate.
The replacement will be done offline while maintaining full rail operations during construction. FTA Grant funds the project under the post-Sandy Emergency Relief Program, intended to protect major infrastructure components in danger of being damaged during extreme climate events.
Project Accolades
