Making Room for the Megaships in New York and New Jersey

It takes more than deep water to accommodate a modern-day containership. Sometimes you have to raise a bridge as well. The Bayonne Bridge was constructed in 1931 to connect New Jersey with Staten Island. And while it was the largest arch bridge in the world at the time, it wasn't high enough to allow for passage of the new generation of mega-containerships. So the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey undertook a $1.6bn project to elevate the roadway. The initiative required four years of permitting and another four for construction, but that was relatively quick for a project of this scale and cost. On this episode, we find out how the bridge reconstruction was planned, funded and executed, and what it means to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. We speak with Bethann Rooney, assistant director of port performance initiatives at the Port Authority at the Port Authority, and Peter Keyes, vice president of New York operations with Moran Towing Corp. They explain what it takes for a major port to keep pace with the requirements of today's global container services. And they consider the question: Just how big are those ships going to get?