Jacobs Receives Contract to Design New Jersey Transit Portal Bridge

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) announced today that it, in a tri-venture with Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems and HNTB Corporation, received a contract from NJ TRANSIT to provide design services for the Portal Bridge Capacity Enhancement Project.

Jacobs' officials estimate the overall construction value of the project at $1.3 billion, with construction scheduled for completion and revenue service to begin in 2017.

The project involves replacing a vital 98-year-old two track railroad swing bridge that crosses the Hackensack River carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor train service as well as NJ TRANSIT's Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line, and Midtown Direct commuter service to Penn Station in New York City.

The existing two-track bridge will be replaced with two bridges on either side of it carrying a total of five tracks. The northernmost bridge will be a fixed bridge with a 50-foot mean high water clearance for marine traffic and will carry three tracks. The second structure, south of the existing bridge, will contain a movable 400-foot long center span with a 40-foot mean high water clearance and will carry two tracks. It will be possible to raise the center span ten feet via a vertical hydraulic lift that will be utilized about ten times a year to accommodate the largest marine vessels navigating the river.

Jacobs will provide engineering design services for the portion of the project located west of the Hackensack River. This work includes the design of up to 12 bridges carrying railroad traffic above county roads; trackwork; geotechnical services; retaining walls of various types; a duck-under box structure to facilitate track tie-ins for NJ TRANSIT's Morris & Essex commuter line; rail systems work that includes signals and communications; constructability analyses; and operations and staging plans that will minimize the impact of construction on rail service.

In making the announcement, Jacobs Group Vice President Kevin J. McMahon said, "We are delighted to have been selected with our tri-venture partners for this vital project. We look forward to continuing our long-lasting relationship with NJ TRANSIT by providing the services needed to support its goals of providing improved services to its customers and of promoting the long-term economic development of the New York metropolitan region."

Jacobs, with over 56,000 employees and revenues exceeding $10.0 billion, provides technical, professional, and construction services globally.

Any statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based on management's current estimates and expectations, and currently available competitive, financial, and economic data, forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. We, therefore, caution the reader that there are a variety of factors that could cause business conditions and results to differ materially from what is contained in our forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors which may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements please refer to our 2007 Form 10-K, and in particular the discussions contained under Items 1 - Business, 1A - Risk Factors, 3 - Legal Proceedings, and 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We also caution the readers of this release that we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made herein.

For additional information contact:
Michelle Jones
626.578.6968

SOURCE Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Web site: http://www.jacobs.com