Two fixed bridges are replacing one movable one, and that’s the entire engineering argument. The 118-year-old Susquehanna River Bridge is the longest movable span on the Northeast Corridor, and every time it opens for a boat, roughly 110 Amtrak, MARC and Norfolk Southern trains a day are held somewhere behind it.
Amtrak awarded Flatiron/Herzog a construction manager at risk contract in December 2023. HNTB is the lead designer; AECOM runs project and construction management alongside the CMAR. The Federal Railroad Administration committed $2.08 billion through the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail against a program cost near $2.7 billion.
Project Scope
The replacement is two parallel two-track fixed bridges, each roughly 4,000 feet long, spanning the Susquehanna between Havre de Grace in Harford County and Perryville in Cecil County. Preconstruction kicked off in July 2024 and the bridge work runs through 2036. Design speed rises toward 160 mph, which is the number that matters for Acela schedules south of Wilmington.
Early works are done. Fay, S&B USA Construction finished pulling the tenth and last remnant pier from an 1866 railroad bridge in the channel, on schedule and with no lost-time incidents. Clearing those piers was the prerequisite for driving new foundations in the same reach.
Why It Matters
Twelve years is a long program, and the delivery method is the reason it’s survivable. CMAR lets Amtrak buy the contractor’s constructability input before the drawings are locked, which on a river crossing with marine access constraints, an active two-track railroad overhead and a 160-year-old obstruction field is worth more than a low bid.
For heavy civil contractors the read is straightforward: the Northeast Corridor bridge program is now the most reliably funded marine and rail structures market in the country. Portal North is finished, Dock Bridge is underway, Connecticut River is in construction and Susquehanna runs into the mid-2030s. That’s a decade of foundation, steel erection and demolition work in a single corridor, under one owner, with federal money already obligated.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Amtrak |
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| Owner / Client | Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) |
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| Consultants | HNTB Corporation (Lead Design)
AECOM (Project and Construction Management) |
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| General Contractor | Flatiron / Herzog Joint Venture (CMAR) |
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| Major Subcontractors | Fay, S&B USA Construction (Demolition and Pier Removal) |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Delivery Method | CMAR |
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| Funding Source | Public (Federal) |
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