Starting the page with my drive into the construction entrance from the east. Another perspective of how much taller the new bridge will be. You can compare the new utility tower to the existing one that spans the tracks (see the existing bridge page linked at bottom) and see how much taller that will be as well.


And now you can see how much taller - really how much longer - the approaches need to be to get up to the taller new bridge. Thousands of feet of approach are needed, graded at no more than 1% (1 foot up per 100 feet of length). In the foreground is a set of current rail signals on the small overhead and a much larger overhead that appears to be tall enough for the future Portal South Bridge. I'm not clear why it had to be constructed now, unless the wiring of the existing overhead needs to be severed to complete Portal North construction.


Walking south down the east side of the bridge approach to what is known as a "duck-under." Pretty much what you'd think, one railroad track ducking under another. It's being cast now for the future Portal South Bridge; once that's built, one track from that bridge will branch through this tunnel for connectivity to the west side of the tracks. You can see the maze of conduits that will be used to carry utilities across the Hackensack River, and the fact they're not connected yet.


To the other side of the duck-under and back north to the main span, with Snake Hill visible behind the NJ Turnpike. Put both sides together, and it's clear the conduits needed to be ducked under the duck-under for maintenance to avoid taking the track out of service every time.


Back up to the east and west sides of the southern span, with a closeup of the cables fastened to the arch. Not sure what the (temporary) red flags are for, but they're at every joint between arch members.


My only southward view from the west side of the bridge, showing the safety walk under construction and an outer railroad utilty platform. Where I'm standing will someday be a fishing pier. In the Meadowlands. People alive in the 1980s can't picture that being a thing.


Here is what the tour's all about. We're up on the bridge and heading north almost all the way across into Secaucus. You can see from concrete being cured (7th photo) that construction is generally progressing south to north just like us.


A closeup of the arch cable connections exactly as far as the concrete casing has been poured. On the right is rebar (steel reinforcement bars) that holds the concrete together and provides tensile strength (concrete is compressive only). Bonus Turnpike bridge and swampland.


Back south into Kearny.


Continuing south from there, rails are in place on the approach and active up to this point for shuttling needed materials and personnel. We got to walk the safety walk for some distance along the tracks and then crossed them (safely) to get back down. The concrete ties (visible in the 2nd photo) are all installed already. Once the rails are ready for actual service and not just construction, they'll be straightened, set in final position, and the gravel brushed away to reveal the ties.


One last view back north, rails and bridge together.


Saving the best part of the tour for last, you may have noticed that some photos featured a crane on the western walkway. Well, here is that crane gently lowering a truck from the bridge, as there's no other way to get needed vehicles up or down. (You also can see the crane raising a bulldozer in the last southbound bridge photo.) That's why you can't fish from the pier yet.

See existing Portal Bridge and other existing bridges
Back to Portal Bridge main page

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