I found a video showing the Portal Bridge’s progress on Reddit. There are ties and rails on site, which indicates that certain portions will soon have rail laid. Another observation is that the equipment that was used to slide the arch on to the supports is being dismantled. This equipment move indicates that the second arch will arrive at some point in the near future, something that the yahoo news article I linked previously mentioned as well.
On the live cam, equipment is being moved to the southern side, where the second arch will likely be placed. This makes sense as it keeps the river navigable by marine traffic for as long as possible. Note the beams located by the arch support. That is part of the equipment used to move the arch is moved over to the southern side. The entire setup will be disassembled and placed on the southern side and once it is in place, I will actively monitor for any arch movement at Coeymans.
At the Tonnelle Ave site, concrete bridge railing is being revealed and there is conduit being installed before the side by the PRR substation is filled in.
Crazy how fast and easy these projects happen when lawmakers just approve the funding.
Side note: Just about done with my vacation in Tokyo, the efficiency, timeliness, cleanliness and range of the transit systems is out of this world. Never having to worry about getting anywhere in a city larger than NYC and LA combined is actually insane. Wish the US could get to this level someday
There’s a sort of irrational hatred for mass transit in America. The car culture is deeply ingrained which is why there’s very little investments in public/mass transit infrastructure. Just look at how long it took for this to get started and we’re right now witnessing the debacle that is congestion pricing.
This is the consequence of decades of lobbying by the automotive and oil industries, with millions spent each year on trying to influence policy. It’s going to take a long time to change this attitude especially since many politicians refuse to change the status quo (especially if they get kickbacks by the industries) and we have NIMBY types who with intense fervor, will try and stop any new transit projects from happening.
Paterson has been slowly making improvements but it’s still a very long way off from shifting towards a Hoboken or JC type environment.
One major issue is rampant corruption in local politics there. I interned with a public office in Paterson for a bit and asked my coworkers why they thought more improvement projects didn’t happen. Their answer was essentially that a lot of money disappears from the books through various payoffs/kickbacks/etc.
It’s a shame for many reasons, but the office I worked in was full of people who really wanted to improve the city.
Ultimately, you’d need to develop the local economy too. The city is essentially a rust belt town that lost manufacturing as it’s primary sector, so all other secondary sectors languished and the place emptied out.
Personally, I’d love to see a lot of those old factories become film or art studios.
Aside from movement at Coeymans, the biggest indication of the imminence of the second arch delivery is most likely the fact that the barge used to lift the arch has been moved from one end to the other. The structure used to hold the equipment is also being assembled. The end of January sounds like a reasonable estimate of when the next arch will arrive.
Another important detail is that the barge the first arch was delivered on was finally taken away. It is likely back at Coeymans to be loaded with the second arch.
For the first time in about a month, there are no clouds over Coeymans so I can see whats going on there. Nothing of note relating to arch movement at this time although the snow and weather make it hard to see anything. There are many barges tied up there, though, most likely including the bridge arch one unless it is currently tied up somewhere else.
We’re also entering the home stretch for the first portion of the Tonnelle Ave bridge. The railing is almost fully cast and the final road surface will likely be installed soon. Once this is finished, traffic will be redirected to this portion, and work will begin in the middle of the roadway to build the project’s next phase.
Phase 1 of the Tonelle Ave bridge is wrapping up. The asphalt is being put down and the safety railing is being installed. Once done, the traffic will be redirected and the middle section will be dug out.
At the Portal Bridge site, the northern-side camera hasn’t been updated since the 8th so I cannot provide updates on that half of the bridge, however, the arrival of the second arch draws closer.
The equipment used to slide the arch into place is now installed.
Cloud cover has been abysmal at Coeymans and the satellite I use doesn’t have wavelengths that penetrate the clouds. There’s a very good chance I might not be able to provide updates from Coeymans, but I will continue to use other sources I have such as social media to provide updates.
Speaking of which, the second arch is on its way and as of today, it has left Coeymans per a NJ Transit post on Instagram.
It’s confirmed per Carver Companies as of yesterday.
Here’s the schedule of events leading up to its arrival. If anyone wishes to go capture it, here are the estimated times for passing by a variety of landmarks.
The arch has arrived on-site and is yet to be put on the temporary mounts on the other side of the river for loading onto the jacks. It arrived at some point past noon since the proper earthcam snapshot does not have the arch captured. I also overheard from some unnamed sources that the third arch might arrive at some point next month.
Preparations are also being made at Tonnelle Avenue to shift the roadway so phase 2 can commence. A bunch of jersey barriers are being positioned so the traffic can move in the desired direction. The camera is a day behind so there is most likely more work than what is pictured completed.
While the one Portal Bridge camera’s capture history is not working, it is still taking snapshots which revealed that the northern side is now getting catenary poles. The second arch is also now perched on the temporary blocks so the jack barge can be put underneath.
Tonnelle Avenue has also been re-adjusted with lines painted and barriers in place and traffic is now using the new bridge segment. The middle section is clear and work will commence soon.
At Tonelle Avenue, no time is being wasted with the commencement of phase 2: the road is being ripped up so excavation can commence. The temporary scaffolding for the bridge wall is also being dismantled.
Sharing is an excellent interview with Stephen Sigmund, Director of the Global Gateway Alliance from last spring. Apologies if this has been posted before
They’re aiming to have the bridge done by 2025. I believe it. They have some great momentum here and I’m sure the next two phases will move faster since they don’t have to demolish the remains of the first iteration of the project (they were practically done with the first segment at the time) that Christie had buried in situ after he pulled the plug on it.
These winter sunsets are stunning and if that old Erie main line is converted to a trail, there will be nice vantage points to photograph the bridge. The catenary installation progress is also visible: 4 poles so far have been installed on the north side.
