Bridge No. 87 is located on NC 33 over Norfolk Southern Railroad, in Pitt County. NC 33 is the main route from Grimesland to Greenville with a high amount of truck traffic and school buses.
The existing bridge is 212 feet long and approximately 32.7 feet wide, carrying two lanes of traffic. Built-in 1938, Bridge No. 87 is considered structurally deficient. The replacement structure will be a three-span bridge approximately 287 feet long, with two 12-foot lanes and 4-foot shoulders.
Construction of the roadway grade of the new structure will be raised approximately 4.5 to 4.75 feet from the existing structure to provide required clearance over Norfolk Southern Railroad. The approaches will be widened to include a 32-foot pavement width, providing two 12- foot lanes and a minimum of 4-foot paved shoulder. Traffic will be maintained on the existing bridge during construction.
Large vehicles could not easily pass under railroad bridges on Long Island.
The North Highway Bridge, Montauk Highway Bridge and Shinnecock Canal Bridge, built about 100 years ago, required rehabilitation. Based on routine bridge inspections, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) determined these aging bridges were in need of modernization to extend the life of the bridges by 35 to 40 years.
Conti closely coordinated with LIRR to complete this project successfully. To accommodate the vehicle heights, the vertical roadway clearances of Montauk Highway and North Highway Bridges were increased by 6 inches. The Shinnecock Bridge superstructure and substructure elements were repaired, along with lead abatement, painting, waterproofing and other critical structural improvements. The Shinnecock Bridge rehabilitation work was done over an active waterway and required close coordination with the US Coast Guard. Conti performed lead abatement and steel repairs using a containment system. Existing piers and abutments were refurbished by installing soil anchors, replacing bearings and repairing concrete spalls.
In order to raise the bridges and set new approaches, 72-hour outages were required by the railroad to disconnect the rails. Conti closely coordinated with LIRR to ensure rail service resumed as scheduled. These outages were scheduled over a year in advance to accommodate the 5,490 passengers who ride the Montauk line on an average weekday.
Conti worked with LIRR to achieve transparent communication and coordination of the project. The team completed all four 72-hour track outages on time without impacting train or canal traffic.
“Rebuilding these bridges, the oldest of which has stood for more than 100 years, will provide a much needed boost to the economy.” – LIRR President, Helena Williams
Serving nearly 260,000 New Jersey and New York passengers per week, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system has provided a popular and safe underground public mass transit network for over 100 years.
The PATH Corporation, a subsidiary of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), owns and operates these trains 24 hours per day along 14 miles of track. To keep these transit lines safe and operational PANYNJ required improvements to the system’s F Tunnel aging infrastructure.
Conti overcame unique challenges to perform the complex renovations of the F Tunnel. Conti’s work included constructing new reinforced concrete walls and reinforcing existing ones, surgical demolitions and removal or existing utilities, construction of a new foundation, interior finish restoration, and installation of a stainless steel security partition.
The team retrofitted these new structural elements to pre-existing underground tunnel and platform structures that dated back to the early 1900s while maintaining weekday commuter rail operations through the tunnel. Conti staged work from a remote PATH facility where trains were provided by PATH to move all materials and equipment to and from the underground tunnel work site. Even though all work had to be completed during weekend track outages, Conti completed the project on time and budget, including the labor-intensive concrete foundation preparatory stage in which the team removed rock of 15,000 to 20,000 psi compressive strength under the low headroom space of the tunnel.
Conti’s construction efforts provided advanced security and infrastructure upgrades to this century old rail transit system.
In a landmark project for the state of New Jersey, and the nation as a whole, New Jersey Transit called for the construction of the 34-mile long Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System (SNJLRTS).
The SNJLRTS operates state-of-the-art light rail vehicles over an existing Conrail right-of-way between Trenton and Camden, NJ, parallel to the Delaware River, and serves as one of the state’s most important and widely used modes of transportation. The huge project would require complex track relocation, building demolition, and associated environmental aspects.
Conti was the constructor on Bechtel’s Design Build Operate Maintain team for New Jersey Transit, coordinating with multiple subs and adjacent contractors to bring this portion of the $700 million project to successful completion. Due to the complex nature of this large program, Conti tackled a number of challenging scopes including a 34-miles rail corridor, a yard shop, 20 station stops, 17 bridges, and 50 grade crossings that traversed the middle of small towns, historic districts, and sensitive wetlands areas. The team tailored its QA/QC plan specifically for the SNJLRTS project to meet NJT standards. This was especially important during the track relocation phase of the project, as Conti was required to demolish buildings directly adjacent to historical structures. Conti was responsible for utility construction, earthwork, track bed preparation, retaining walls, paving, demolition of buildings, site work and concrete work, environmental remediation and traffic control.
The team completed the project on time and within budget, and helped deliver one of America’s foremost transportation systems.
Conti’s work resulted in the first track diesel light rail system in the United States.
Connecting major shipping facilities at two ports, the Oak Island Rail Yard is an important rail car storage area for east coast rail routes.
The yard is located north of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and Newark International Airport in an industrial area of the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey. The client planned to increase the capacity of the freight rail yard, as well as some of the main lines between the yards, in addition to solving track flooding problems.
Conti cleared, raised and realigned three miles of rail track in three busy Norfolk-Southern rail yards within a three-mile radius. Work also included installing crossover switches, signals, drainage, and underground utility installation. The new tracks were installed through existing wetlands. Conti required all workers to attend Conrail/Norfolk Southern rail safety and track training, as well as hold Certified NJ Transit Track Safety Awareness clearance. The result was zero lost time safety recordable incidents for the project.
A critical element of the project was to minimize disturbance to Conrail’s operations. The yard sees traffic of at least 30 trains each day. Conti extensively communicated and coordinated with the client on rail track closures to avoid impact to daily operations. The team delivered the project on an aggressive schedule to facilitate Conrail’s peak season yard operations for winter holiday rush.
Completing the tracks in the new rail car storage yard allowed Conrail to move rail cars to the new facility in order to begin expansion work on the old storage area.
Conti’s conscientious planning and coordination kept rail traffic on schedule during the entire project.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Newark’s Broad Street Station is both historic and functional, serving as a major transfer facility for over 27,000 New Jersey commuters per day.
The century-old facility lacked a state-of-the-art communications center that could facilitate electronic linking to New Jersey Transit’s main control center. Display boards and the public announcement system were out of date. The station was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Also, one of the station’s tracks required a new platform to put it into service.
Conti demolished a nearby brick shelter so that the old bricks could be used for the new construction. We replaced turn-of-the-century terrazzo flooring, a plaster ceiling, and marble trim to resemble the look and feel of the station when it had first opened in 1903. Conti also built a communication center that houses all hardware required for the operation of computerized communication devices, and additionally, electronically linking up the Broad Street communication center with NJ Transit’s main control center.
Inside the station, Conti rebuilt nine administrative offices; installed new HVAC, emergency generator, CCTV and boiler heating systems; demolished and rebuilt 20-foot ceilings and plaster walls, painted, upgraded plumbing and associated pipes, and installed all communication lines through the building for high-speed internet. Conti also installed two new hydraulic elevators in and outside the newly renovated building.
The New Jersey Office of Historical Preservation recognized the Broad Street building as an excellently constructed facility at project completion.
Conti helped link historic and modern downtown Newark, enabling the city to continue to set the standard for urban transformation.
A significant part of the redevelopment of downtown Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, was the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link (NERL) extension project. This high-volume urban commuter light rail connects the newly upgraded Penn Station with the historic Broad Street Station on the Morris and Essex line to serve a new Performing Arts Center, Bear’s Baseball Stadium and Washington Park.
Conti was the general contractor for the project, constructing three miles of embedded track work with catenary structures for power traction, new signal systems and five new station stops. The team performed a complex scope of work, including excavation requiring temporary retaining structures, at-grade site improvements, retaining walls, underground tunnel work, rail bridges, roadway work, structural and architectural work, concrete pouring and asphalt paving.
The team was responsive and flexible to the needs of the project. For example, when the State Historical Preservation Office saw one of the rail bridges held historic significance, the team rehabilitated it instead of constructing a new bridge. Repairs were more significant than anticipated by the client, so Conti set up a drill punch metal fabrication area on site so panels were expedited and schedule was maintained.
Conti completed the project on an aggressive schedule working in a bustling urban environment over 10 major roads and next to very active highways. Conti coordinated tie-ins to live rail tracks, working around the clock to minimize track closures. The team kept in constant communication with local businesses in order to sequence work to meet stakeholder needs.
Consistently ranked as one of America’s most productive ports, the Port of Charleston has traded over $63 billion of imports and exports across its docks to date.
In the late 2010s, South Carolina rail company Palmetto Railways launched a multi-phase project to improve the port’s economic throughput and traffic flow. Palmetto Railways’ overall goal was to redevelop portions of the site of the former Charleston Naval Complex into an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) in order to increase South Carolina’s throughput capacity and meet projected future intermodal growth within the region.
Conti performed Phase 1 of the ICTF project, which involved the demolition of dilapidated buildings, site grading and surcharge, and paving of portions of the 130-acre site to support future infrastructure development. Conti obtained the encroachment permit, site clearing permit, and digging permit for this project.
The team demolished and removed nearly 60 buildings and obstructions on the site, including large naval training centers and over 41,300 square yards of concrete from foundations, slabs, and sidewalks. During the earthwork, the team excavated and removed over 92,000 feet of pipes at depths down to 15 feet.
Conti excavated a large amount of unmarked utilities throughout the project. The team avoided schedule delays by coordinating with Palmetto Railways and local utility companies such as North Charleston Sewer and Water immediately after uncovering potential conflicts. Conti’s then marked the location of the utilities on an evolving site layout to better predict where the next conflict would be found.
This project is the first phase in the plan to remediate and redevelop land for the benefit of Charleston’s economy.
The small town of Harrison, NJ, formerly an industrial center, is re-inventing itself as a major commuter hub for travel to New York City.
With rapid transit ridership at the Station increasing over 30% in the past six years, this Project is a critical part of PATH’s system-wide upgrades for the next decade.
This Project completely modernizes the existing Harrison Southwest Station and will feature glass and steel construction. Amenities will include a modern elevator, widened stairs, weather protected station entrances and extended platforms to accommodate 10-car trains.
The Station is part of PATH’s $256m four-phase redevelopment program. The new Southwest station features an airy, light-filled glass-and-steel design and modernized amenities. It features glass-enclosed, weather-protected station entrances, as well as a modern elevator and widened stair access to the platform.
Work is multi-faceted and significantly staged as to not affect daily PATH operations. All building adheres to PANYNJ Sustainable Building Guidelines and takes into account the US Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System.