Flatiron-Herzog Joint-Venture Team Selected to Construct a Portion of the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Replacement Program in Maryland

January 16, 2024

Flatiron is thrilled to collaborate with Herzog, Amtrak and the Maryland Department of Transportation to replace the dated Susquehanna River Rail Bridge – improving safety and efficiency and transforming infrastructure in Maryland. This was published by Construction Dive.

Flatiron/Herzog JV to build 2 Amtrak bridges in Maryland

The contractors will replace the 117-year-old Susquehanna River Rail Bridge in order to improve speed and safety on the Northeast Corridor.

Dive Brief:

• Amtrak has selected a Flatiron/Herzog Joint Venture to build two new bridges and conduct associated track work on the Northeast Corridor as part of the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Replacement Program, the rail agency said in a Dec. 22 press release.
• Broomfield, Colorado-based Flatiron and St. Joseph, Missouri-headquartered Herzog will serve as the Construction Manager at Risk for the project, which will replace the 117-year-old, two-track movable Susquehanna River Rail Bridge connecting Perryville and Havre de Grace in Maryland. 
• The aging Susquehanna River Rail Bridge is a critical link that supports more than 110 daily Amtrak, Maryland Area Regional Commuter and Norfolk Southern Railway passenger and freight trains. Currently, trains must slow to 90 mph when crossing the bridge, creating capacity and reliability constraints.

Dive Insight:

The project aims to boost capacity, trip time and safety for commuter, freight and intercity passenger rail services on the Northeast Corridor, and will also improve the navigation channel for marine users, according to Amtrak. Modernization of overhead power, signal, safety and security systems will also enhance efficiency.

“With the award of these contracts, we are one step closer to breaking ground on this crucial project that will unlock a significant bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, reduce trip times and improve reliability for passenger and freight travel across the northeast,” Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery, said in the release.

The Federal Rail Administration, Maryland DOT/Maryland Transit Authority and Amtrak are partners on the project. 

The FRA recently announced up to $2.08 billion in grant funding to support final design and construction for this project, part of $16.4 billion in federal investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for 25 Northeast Corridor projects. This is the second CMAR contract Amtrak has awarded in recent months, following the first major construction contract for the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore. 

Amtrak also awarded two other contracts to advance the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge project. Dallas-based AECOM’s team won a project and construction management contract to support completion of the final design and manage the bridge construction phase. 

Pittsburgh-based Fay Construction was selected to demolish and remove 10 piers that remain from an 1866 railroad bridge that was located just east of the existing bridge. The remnant pier work will begin in early 2024 and last approximately one year, per Amtrak.

Final design work is underway for the two new bridges, which will be built in phases. Design completion is expected by the end of this year and construction is scheduled to start in 2025.