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Keeping freight moving on the US East Coast

Replacing an aging rail bridge across the Passaic River while keeping one of the region’s busiest freight corridors running
Point No Point Bridge
Transportation
Bridges
Rail & Transit
Highways

The Point-No-Point Bridge replacement in Kearny and Newark, New Jersey, modernized a critical freight rail crossing over the Passaic River for Conrail, which operates more than 1,200 miles of track in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. The 130-year-old swing bridge had become increasingly unreliable, with openings that could delay rail traffic for hours at a time. As the only freight rail link serving multiple intermodal yards in the area, the bridge plays a vital role in regional and national freight movement.

Jacobs supported Conrail throughout the project lifecycle — from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance and concept development through final engineering design and construction phases — replacing an obsolete structure with a modern movable bridge without disrupting daily freight operations.

Balancing rail, river and environmental demands

The project site sits within one of the most constrained rail corridors in the region, where multiple active rail lines, utilities and navigation requirements converge. The Passaic River is also designated as a Superfund site — a location identified as highly contaminated by the Environmental Protection Agency and managed under a federal remediation program — and was named one of America’s most endangered bridges in 2025, adding significant environmental and regulatory complexity.

Key challenges included:

  • Maintaining daily freight operations during construction
  • Navigating federal and state environmental permitting requirements
  • Coordinating with multiple rail operators, utility owners and regulatory agencies
  • Working within tight right-of-way limits and limited construction access
  • Minimizing long-term impacts to the surrounding communities

Jacobs led a comprehensive planning and design approach that balanced constructability, environmental compliance and uninterrupted rail service. During the conceptual phase, multiple bridge alternatives were evaluated before advancing a single-leaf bascule option for the movable span. The bascule movable bridge operates like a counterweighted seesaw, with the deck — known as the leaf — pivoting upward to open and provide clearance for marine traffic.

The selected design provides unlimited vertical clearance in one navigation channel while maintaining a fixed clearance in the second channel, significantly reducing construction and lifecycle costs while meeting marine navigation requirements.

Environmental compliance followed the NEPA process, with early and continuous coordination among federal and state agencies. This proactive approach allowed sensitive areas to be avoided, streamlined approvals and reduced the need for additional permitting later in the project.

  • By identifying risks early and integrating environmental, engineering and construction planning from the outset, Jacobs together with Conrail delivered resilient infrastructure in one of the region’s most complex operating environments.
    David Leymeister
    Jacobs Program Manager

Keeping trains moving in a corridor with no room for error

To support construction in the river while limiting disruption, the team incorporated a temporary trestle into the initial permitting strategy. The temporary trestle is a reusable and temporary bridge-like structure, typically built from pile foundations, beams and timber mats. It’s designed to support heavy construction equipment, enabling access across water, unstable ground or challenging terrain and acts as a stable stationary alternative to the use of barges for marine construction. This early decision accelerated the construction schedule by several months and provided a clearly defined work zone for contractors.

Innovative utility coordination also played a critical role. When the exact location of a fiber optic line crossing the river couldn’t be confirmed, advanced three-dimensional probing technology was used to map its precise position. The design was then adjusted to avoid conflicts, preventing delays and protecting critical infrastructure.

A more reliable crossing for the region’s supply chains

The new bridge delivers a more reliable and efficient freight rail crossing for Conrail and other freight operators that depend on the corridor. Where bridge openings once disrupted rail service for extended periods, the replacement structure supports faster, more predictable operations for more than 40 freight trains per day.