Skanska Gets New Bridge Contract

Koch Skanska is continuing its work on the Manhattan Bridge with a job starting shortly and slated to run 40 months. The Carteret, N.J. unit - part of Skanska USA Civil, a division of Sweden-based Skanska - just completed a $189 million rehabilitation contract last summer.

The new $148 million job to refurbish and reinforce the bridge includes replacing the center roadway - a major task that will close the section to vehicle traffic for up to a year. The job calls for major repair and installation of steel and concrete to replace lateral supports and retaining walls, rebuild roadways on the approach and suspended spans on both ends, and replace suspenders and joints in the lower roadway.

The prior job rehabilitated the north spans of the bridge, which links Lower Manhattan at Canal Street to Brooklyn. The 5,800-ft.-long structure, completed in 1909, has seven vehicle lanes at two levels and four subway train tracks.

$10M for Penn Station Platform Work

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners has approved $10 million to advance plans that will ease rush hour crowding on New Jersey Transit platforms at New York's Pennsylvania Station.

NJ Transit will use the funds to begin engineering work on a project to connect its platforms with an expanded central corridor in the existing Penn Station and a new concourse extending into the planned Moynihan Station across Eighth Avenue. Scheduled for completion by 2010, the work would also support higher capacity bi-level commuter rail cars, expected for service in 2006. The funds would also support rail yard improvements and interagency coordination efforts.

Harlem River Bridge Efforts Continue

The New York City Department of Transportation's $118 million reconstruction of the Third Avenue Bridge notched a big milestone in placing a new wing span into its final position. All eight of the moveable bridges connecting the Bronx and Manhattan over the Harlem River are undergoing renovations in a $500 million effort.

Work is complete on the University Heights, Macombs Dam, and Madison Avenue bridges. The 145th Street, Broadway, Willis Avenue, and Wards Island Pedestrian bridges are also scheduled for major repairs.

Conn. Moves Bus Rapid Transit

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is hiring five engineering firms to perform final design services for its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

The department is moving ahead on design for facilities in New Britain along Main Street, from Newington toward West Hartford on an Amtrak right-of-way, from West Hartford toward Hartford on another right-of-way, and a last leg to Union Station in Hartford.