A joint venture between O&G Industries and Tutor Perini will soon start laying tracks for Amtrak’s $1.3 billion Connecticut River Bridge Replacement project.
The passenger rail company announced June 28 that it had selected the JV to begin construction on a new bridge to replace the current structure, which first went into service in 1907 and consistently fails to open and close for shipping traffic on the river. The 1,500-foot-long span currently serves more than 50 trains a day.
The project is part of a larger, $16 billion push to improve Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor infrastructure that includes building a new, two-track rail tunnel under the Hudson River between northern New Jersey and Manhattan and the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore, among other projects.
Amtrak picked Torrington, Connecticut-based O&G and Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini to build the new bridge between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme, Connecticut, roughly midway between New York City and Providence, Rhode Island. Tutor Perini said it was bidding on the project last August during an earnings call.
The new moveable bridge will be located immediately south of the existing moveable bridge, Amtrak said, and will feature modern track, signal, catenary, power, communication and other supporting rail infrastructure.
The new span, for which design is already complete, will accommodate a maximum operating speed of 70 mph, a 55% increase from the current 45 mph maximum. There will also be improved vertical clearance for maritime traffic to pass below it.
The project has been structured via a design-bid-build contract. Amtrak previously awarded Dallas-based AECOM a construction management contract to assist with contractor management, document control, schedule and budget oversight, as well as community outreach on the build.
The approximately $1.3 billion project is primarily funded by 2021’s Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and a $827 million federal grant awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration. The remaining portion will be funded by Amtrak and Connecticut.
Construction is set to begin in late summer or early fall, Amtrak said. In its own news release, Tutor Perini said it was a 30% partner in the joint venture. It anticipates substantial completion of the project in 2031.