NJ TRANSIT Awards Design and Engineering Services Contract for Brielle Drawbridge Replacement Project
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
An image of the Brielle Drawbridge taken from the cab of an eastbound NJCL train.
Courtesy of Bill Vantuono
NEWARK, N.J. – The NJ TRANSIT’s Board of Directors approved a contract to advance the Brielle Drawbridge Replacement Project.
The contract was awarded to Hardesty & Hanover, LLC of New York, New York and will start the conceptual and preliminary design and engineering services as part of Phase I. NJ TRANSIT reports the cost will not exceed $7,708,478.47 “plus five percent for contingencies, subject to the availability of funds.” Phase I is expected to be finished by the Q1 2027, and the entirety of the project is slated to be completed by Q3 2031.
The project will replace the current single-track movable bridge built in 1911. Currently, the bridge measure 1,162 feet from abutment to abutment and carries a “single non-electrified track and a maintenance walkway.” A two-track movable bridge will replace it and will “improve flood resiliency and maritime operations, while restoring two-track capacity to this critical rail infrastructure connecting the towns of Brielle and Point Pleasant Beach on NJ TRANSIT’s North Jersey Coast Line.” Along with a 20-mph speed restriction, the current single-track movable span is located between sections of two tracks, resulting in a bottleneck over the bridge.
NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett stated, “When we talk about the aging infrastructure we inherited across our rail network, the Brielle Drawbridge, a critical link along our North Jersey Coast Line, is near the top of that list at 113 years old. . . This replacement project will add capacity and resiliency for generations of rail customers to come.”
