Completion date of Bayonne Bridge project moved back

NJBIZ STAFF//September 16, 2014//

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The completion date of the raising of the Bayonne Bridge, one of the biggest infrastructure updates the state needs to compete economically in the future, has been pushed back.The project, originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015, will not be finished until the following summer, the Port Authority said Monday.

The bridge will be 215 feet high upon completion, enough to allow passage of the larger cargo ships that will soon be moving through the widened Panama Canal.

Project manager Joann Papageorgis told NJ.com that weather — including last winter’s harsh winter, was the cause of the delay.

“It wasn’t just snow, we have cranes that can’t operate in heavy winds,” Papageorgis said. “Steel workers don’t work in the rain.”

The Port Authority said the $1.29 billion project remains on budget and should be finished before the widening of the canal is completed.

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