NYS&W seeks bids for $4.86 million Paterson-Hawthorne bridge project

The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway is seeking bids to rehabilitate Bridge 21.69 over the Passaic River in Paterson, in a project listed by New Jersey transportation officials at an estimated $4.86 million.

An indexed bid notice says a mandatory pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at the bridge site, with signed bids due by 4 p.m. Friday, August 14. The project remains in the contractor-solicitation stage. No construction award, selected contractor or construction start date is confirmed in the available records.

Work planned at the Passaic River bridge

A June 17 New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection bulletin identifies the project as NYS&W Railway Bridge MP 21.69 over the Passaic River in Paterson. The agency lists an application submitted by NYS&W for bridge scour protection.

The documented work is the installation of riprap around the bridge piers. Riprap is rock placed to help protect bridge supports from scour, the erosion or removal of riverbed and bank material caused by moving water.

NJDEP says the work will disturb the riparian zone, state open water and the bridge’s southern abutment. The application is listed under a flood-hazard general permit for scour protection at bridges and culverts and a freshwater-wetlands general permit for very minor road crossings. The application was received and marked administratively complete on June 8, 2026.

The NJDEP record describes the environmental application and scope. It does not establish a construction start date or confirm road closures, river-access restrictions, rail-service interruptions, noise limits or other public impacts.

State grant covers most of the estimated cost

NJDOT’s FY24 Rail Freight Assistance Program lists the rehabilitation of Bridge 21.69 over the Passaic River as a $4,860,000 project. The record identifies Hawthorne Borough as the municipality, NYS&W Railway Corp. as the recipient and provides $4,374,000 in grant funding plus a $486,000 state share.

The grant record establishes the project’s estimated cost and public funding structure. It does not establish that the full amount has been spent or that a construction contract has been awarded.

What residents know now

The indexed bid notice identifies two immediate procurement milestones: the mandatory pre-bid meeting on August 5 and the signed-bid deadline on August 14. Because the original NYS&W bid package was not available in the supplied records, the available evidence does not establish the project’s detailed construction schedule, work hours, access arrangements or effects on rail, road or river use.

Those details may be addressed in the original bid package, later addenda, an award notice or a construction announcement. Until then, residents and businesses near the Passaic River crossing should not assume that closures or service interruptions have been scheduled.

Next step is bid review

After bids are submitted, NYS&W would generally review the proposals and determine whether to make an award. Any contractor selection, notice to proceed and construction schedule remain unconfirmed in the records reviewed for this article.

For Paterson, the immediate development is the move from environmental application activity to competitive bidding for a publicly supported rail-bridge rehabilitation project. The next listed milestone is the 4 p.m. August 14 signed-bid deadline.

Sources

• NJDEP Land Use Permits and Applications, June 17, 2026
• NJDOT FY24 Rail Freight Assistance Program Grants
• Bridge 21.69 bid notice indexed for Paterson

Look for updates to this story

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