ASCE NJB Construction Technical Group Presents:
NJDOT Rt. 1&9T/ New Road Contract #2 - Presentation and Site Visit
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2026
Time: In-Person/Virtual Presentation 12pm-1pm; Site Visit 2pm-3pm (In-Person attendees only)
Speakers:
Presentation:
W. Eric Neu - NJDOT Regional Field Manager
Greg Romano, PE - Project Manager, HNTB
Laura Hazen, PE - Deputy Project Manager, HNTB
Juan Alfonso, PE - Project Engineer (Structures), HNTB
Site Tour:
Bill Ricci - Resident Engineer, Amercom
Michael Orlowski - Assistant Resident Engineer, HNTB
Ed Panuska - George Harms Construction Company, Inc.
Route 1&9T/New Road is a New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) project in Jersey City, NJ to construct a new 1.6-mile roadway, designed to reduce truck traffic on Tonnelle Avenue and optimize freight movement in the region. The new roadway will providing a parallel route between Port Newark/Port Elizabeth and destination warehousing, storage areas, and railroad facilities to the north. The overall project was divided into three construction contracts. Contract 2 is the southernmost section and constructs the full replacement of two existing bridges owned by NJ TRANSIT to accommodate the New Road alignment.
For each bridge, the design team developed an innovative solution to address the operational and geometric challenges of the project site.
WYE Track Bridge:
The WYE Track connects NJ TRANSIT’S M&E Line and Main Line and the existing bridge is situated on a curve between these two rail lines. The replacement WYE track bridge is positioned on a new alignment, to the inside of the existing WYE track, allowing for off-line construction, minimizing track outages and enhancing safety during construction. Due to its longer span and curved layout, alternative designs were evaluated. HNTB, in coordination with NJ TRANSIT, selected a 160-foot gusset-less truss for its lower maintenance and enhanced structural redundancy.
M&E Line Bridge:
NJ TRANSIT’s M&E Line provides service between Newark and Hoboken. The replacement bridge carries three tracks on a 90-foot span steel through girder superstructure, located to the east of the existing bridge. The heavily traveled corridor and multiple geometric constraints of the project site necessitated the use of accelerated bridge construction methods and carefully detailed construction staging to accomplish the work.
During construction, NJ TRANSIT rail and signal personnel requested that the cable tray system mounted along the north fascia of the existing bridge be maintained, instead of being re-routed and demolished. Maintaining the cable tray system in place meant the existing superstructure was unable to slide-out to the north. The Contractor proposed an alternative method: a roll-out using self-propelled modular transports (SPMTs). NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, George Harms and HNTB coordinated through expedited working drawing reviews and meetings to finalize the sequencing and operations. The roll-out work was completed within one full, three-track weekend outage in June 2025. The roll-in installation of the new superstructure was also completed within one full, three-track weekend outage in November 2025. For both outage weekends, train service was restored ahead of schedule.
The collective result of the innovations proposed by the Design Team and Contractor, and the meticulous coordination between all parties throughout construction, is a project that is currently more than 400 days ahead of schedule, with completion projected for summer 2026.
All individuals attending must bring PPE (Safety Boots, Hard Hat, Safety Vest, Eye protection). A job briefing will be held promptly starting at start of the tour. Individuals not having the correct PPE will not be able to attend the tour and will be required to immediately leave the jobsite.
You must register for this event. No walk-ins permitted. Site tour is limited to the first 25 people to register. In order to attend the site tour you must also register and attend the presentation.
Presentation will be from 12pm to 1pm.
Anyone going on the site tour must attend the presentation in person. Location to be provided upon registration.
2 PDH pending for Presentation & Site Visit
1 PDH pending for Presentation Only
Costs for Virtual Presentation (No Site Visit):
$20 - Members and Government Employees
$30 - Non-members
Free - Students
Cost for In Person Presentation + Site Visit:
$35 - Members and Government Employees
$45 - Non-members
$25 - Students
You must attend the presentation in person to attend the site tour. Lunch will be provided at in person presentation. The site tour is limited to 25 attendees.
Make checks payable to "ASCE North Jersey Branch" or pay online through Eventbrite (below).
Mail checks to:
Robert Rogoff - ASCE NJB Treasurer
HNTB
9 Entin Road, Suite 202
Parsipanny, NJ 07054