400-foot-long bridge arch floats through N.J. river. This is where it’s headed.

When have three bridges opened to let another bridge pass underneath them?
It happened in New Jersey Wednesday afternoon, when the first of three giant steel arch bridge sections fabricated in upstate New York, were floated up the Hackensack River to a construction site in Kearny.
It’s a piece of the larger $1.6 billion Portal North Bridge that is the first part of the larger Gateway project. That includes construction of new $16 billion Hudson River rail tunnels, which has ongoing work on the Manhattan and New Jersey sides of the river.
Portal North Bridge will carry Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line over the Hackensack River in Kearny, replacing a 114-year old low swing bridge that sits on a pedestal and rotates to open for marine traffic.
For Amtrak and NJ Transit commuters, the old bridge is a source of frustration when it is unable to fully close, meaning that work crews have to hammer miter rails in place so trains can cross it.
Construction of the bridge’s long, tall approach spans started in August 2022 when work on the Portal North bridge started next to the old bridge. Full completion is targeted for 2027.
The 400-foot-long, 80-foot tall, 2,500-ton arch bridge section was floated from a fabricating plant near Albany on a barge down the Hudson River and started making it way up the Hackensack River, passing under the Pulaski Skyway around 1:45 p.m.
The arch bridge section required the almost simultaneous opening of three Hackensack River drawbridges in Jersey City, one that carries PATH trains, another that carries ConRail shared assets freight trains and the new Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge.
The new Portal Bridge design has three arch spans totaling 1,200 feet in length and are 50 feet above the river to allow marine vessels to pass under.
The passage of the bridge section was mentioned by Gov. Phil Murphy during a press conference Wednesday, when he said the bridge is 75% complete.
During his call-in news show last week, Murphy said he talked to President-elect Donald Trump about Portal North Bridge and the governor said Trump expressed interest in attending the opening of the span.
During his first term, Trump announced he was backing the Portal North Bridge project in 2020 after having dinner with Murphy in his Bedminster golf club. That put the project in line for a $811 million Federal Transit Administration grant.
When the third arch arrives and is hoisted in place in early February, the bridge will be considered structurally complete. That allows Amtrak approximately one year to install overhead catenary wires, signals, and tracks. The first track may open in 2026.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry.