The ceremonial groundbreaking for the $2.3 billion Long Bridge project occurred in Arlington with two U.S. senators and the U.S. Transportation Secretary. This project will consist of seven new bridges, 20,000 feet of tracks, and 1.5 miles of rail and is expected to be completed by 2030. It is set to transform passenger and commuter rail between DC and Virginia.
The current commute setup consists of a 120-year-old bridge shared by freight and passenger trains. Passenger trains experience many delays, as freight trains take priority on the track. The new bridges will lead to fewer delays, increased service, and a less congested commute between DC and northern Virginia.
Upon completion, the old bridge will remain and be used exclusively for freight, while the new bridges will feature tracks for trains like the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and Amtrak. The project will be broken into two packages (North and South).
“The North Package encompasses a very complicated construction area from the south side of East Potomac Park and moving north over the Washington Channel and Maine Avenue SW to just south of L’Enfant Plaza in Washington D.C.,” said the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VRPA).
The North package involves the construction of several smaller bridges:
- A new rail bridge over the WMATA Portal/I-395
- Replacement of the existing two-track Ohio Drive SW rail bridge with a four-track bridge
- Replacement of the existing two-track Washington Channel rail bridge with a four-track bridge
- Replacement of the existing two-track Maine Avenue SW rail bridge with a four-track bridge
- Replacement of the Maine Avenue SW pedestrian bridge
The South Package covers the portion in Virginia and includes building two new bridges: the rail bridge over the Potomac River and an adjacent bicycle-pedestrian bridge.
Sweden-based Skanska and US-based Flatiron Construction received the design-build contract as a joint venture for this project in 2023. Other build partners include the construction engineering JV of JMT and HNTB, with Genesis Structures, iDesign Engineering, MRCE, and TB&A listed as subcontractors.
Skanska and Flatiron will head the project from the design phase to construction.
Concerning the expected completion date, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg states, “It’s an aggressive timeline, but also one that I believe that they can meet, and one that reflects all the planning that has gone into this.” His attendance was partly to promote the federal spending benefits for infrastructure equating to almost $750 million, a bill signed by President Joe Biden three years ago, which is being used to fund the Long Bridge project.
Currently, 1.3 million Amtrak passengers and 4.3 million VRE riders use the Long Bridge annually, reaching 98% capacity during peak times.
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