Construction continues on the Port Jersey Channel Deepening Project in Bayonne and Jersey City.

New Jersey Department of Transportation began construction on project in December 2007 to increase the channel’s maximum depth from 41 ft to 50 ft.

“The Port Jersey deepening project will serve as a regional economic engine by improving the accessibility of the Port Jersey Channel for large ships,” said NJDOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri. The port is used by Global Marine Terminals, the Northeast Auto Marine Terminal, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal.

In addition, the project will also involve realignment of the channel. Sediment will be moved and redistributed to improve safety by allowing for additional capacity and access within the channel. “There will not only be more space for the bottom of the boat, but there will al so be more room overall for ships to maneuver,” explained Erin Phalon, spokesperson for the NJDOT.

During the project, over 3.6 million cu yd of sand, silt and glacial till sediments will be removed. Approximately one million cu yd will be reused to create a fish habitat in a dead navigation channel on the south side at Bayonne Harbor. Another 750,000 cu yd of silt will be blended with Portland cement and used to cap landfills and brownfields in New Jersey and New York. Approximately 500,000 cu yd of clean sand will be used to fill areas on the Peninsula at Bayonne in preparation for development. The remaining clean sediments will be used to cap the former ocean disposal site off of Sandy Hook.

The $200 million project was sponsored by NJDOT, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the US Army Corps of Engineers. NJDOT’s $100 million contribution is provided by the Dredging and Harbor Revitalization Bond Act of 1996.

The NJDOT considers the deepening of the Port Jersey Channel to be a positive step in the overall federal Harbor Deepening Project—a program to maintain the federal shipping channels at specified depths and widths through dredging, as well as through the removal of any impediments, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers New York District, who is spearheading the federal project.

The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2009.

A project to reconstruct US Route 62 and New York Route 391 is currently running on schedule, according to the New York State Department of Transportation.

The project involves reconstruction of Main Street and Buffalo Street in the Village of Hamburg, New York. When completed in September 2009, the Village will also have new drainage, curbs, sidewalks, four roundabouts and waterlines and sanitary sewers.

The construction contract was awarded to Concrete Applied Tech. Corp. d/b/a CATCO on April 25, 2007 for $19,978,369.96. Construction also began in April.

The project was designed by Clough Harbor & Associates LLP, and Nussbaumer & Clarke, Inc and will be conducted in two phases.

In phase one, construction on West and East Main Streets was completed with the exception of the stamped concrete snow storage, the streetlights and trees. The new storm drain has been erected from Pine Street to Buffalo Street. The curb work was completed in early November 2007 and two of the four roundabouts were also built in phase one. New water lines, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, sidewalks, pavement and street lights were installed as well.

The sanitary sewer on Buffalo Street is currently under construction and the team has started to realign Legion Drive.

The second phase of the project, which will begin in the spring of 2008, involves the reconstruction of Buffalo Street, according to Susan Surdej, spokesperson for NYSDOT. The remaining two roundabouts will be completed.

Work continues on the Route 219 project involving a 4.2 mile extension, which will begin at Route 39 in Springville, New York and extend to Peters Road in Ashford, New York.

The new highway will consist of two lanes and include 11 bridges. Two, 705-ft span arch bridges over the Cattaraugus Creek gorge will also be constructed.

The total project cost is $85,685,250.50 and the construction contract was awarded to Cold Spring Construction in January 2007. The primary project team is in-house at NYSDOT and the consultant is Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc.

The project is divided into three phases by year. In the 2007 construction season, storm pipes, box culverts, tire shreds and waterline and conduit trenches were installed. Substructures for the two bridges over Cattaraugus Creek and bridges at Route 39 were scheduled but not started.

“The majority of the earthwork on this project was scheduled to be completed in the 2007 season,” said Susan Surdej, spokesperson for NYSDOT. “However, a soil failure occurred for a 1500 ft segment of the expressway in the middle of the project, and it appears there has been a reactivation of an ancient landslide,” A remediation plan is being designed and Surdej predicts the setback may not affect the completion date of September 2009.

For the 2008 construction schedule, excavation and embankment work will be completed. Pavement north of existing Route 219 in the northbound and southbound lanes will be completed as well as the new Zoar Valley Road. Work on the Cattaraugus Creek bridges will begin.

The project team has also planned the 2009 schedule. Superstructure concrete for bridges over existing Route 219, Cattaraugus Creek, Schwartz Road and Peters Road are planned but contingent upon bridge work completed in 2008. The widening and reconstruction of Existing Route 219 at Peters Road will also be completed. All remaining mainline and ramp pavement and shoulders will be addressed as well as landscaping, guide rail, signing and fencing.

The project is also going green by including a 119-acre wetland mitigation in Hinman Valley as a top priority. The mitigation will include aquatic habitat enhancement, riparian wetland habitat development, increased flood attenuation and improved water quality as well as wildlife enhancement for waterfowl and other wetland birds.

Mansfield Creek in Cattaraugus County has a direct connection to the wetland mitigation site, which will include enhancement of 2,047 ft of the creek and relocation of approximately 1,099 feet of degraded stream.

“The biggest issue was meeting existing field conditions, which by the nature of the work changed significantly from the time of design,” said Surdej of the mitigation. Even with the challenges, she confirmed both the stream mitigation at McKinstry Creek and the wetland creation at Hinman Valley are substantially complete.