Skanska has won a $444 million contract to replace the Raritan River Bridge in Middlesex County, New Jersey, the Sweden-based contractor and developer announced Tuesday.
The bridge serves as a direct link between the New Jersey cities of Perth Amboy and South Amboy over the Raritan River. The existing bridge suffered damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, according to the news release.
The Raritan Bridge “serves as a critical passageway for over 10,000 daily commuters and 2 million tons of freight annually,” Bill Matre, senior vice president and general manager for Skanska Koch, the firm’s New Jersey regional office, said in the release.
Skanska Koch also performed work on the Brooklyn Bridge, winning a $508 million contract to rehabilitate the span between 2010 and 2014. Work included removing lead-based paint from the span, repainting the structure and replacing approximately 600 bridge bearings.
Project work on the Raritan Bridge is set to begin this month and conclude in 2029.
The scope of the bid-build job includes demolishing the existing swing bridge superstructure and constructing new vertical lift bridge towers, a lift span, two flanking systems and communication systems. Additional work will entail overhead catenary work, landside earthwork and rail system work.
Also, to ensure future sustainability, resiliency and safety, Skanska said, the new bridge will provide additional vertical clearance above the 100-year flood elevation and be positioned further from the Atlantic Ocean to minimize the risk of damage from extreme weather events.
Skanska also said “enhanced navigation channel geometry” will minimize vessel collision hazards and associated repair costs with the bridge’s pier protection systems.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed just over a year ago as a result of a vessel colliding with one of its piers. It did not have mitigation, such as dolphins, to direct the impact away from the structure, and the National Transportation Safety Board indicated that it — and other bridges nationwide — failed to have assessments done to evaluate risk.
