THE Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has announced its project to increase air draft under the Bayonne Bridge to accommodate bigger ships before the widened Panama Canal's opening will be done six months ahead of schedule.

The port authority said it will finish the deck removal portion of the Raise the Roadway project ahead of schedule in the autumn of 2015. This was done by cutting red tape by pre-qualifying five construction contractor with the blessing of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.



The initial work will involve the building of a new elevated roadway 64 feet above the existing deck which will eventually lead to a 215 feet clearance above the Kill Van Kull waterway from the Bayonne Bridge roadway.



This follows an announcement from Panama Canal Authority that expansion will complete in 2015 with up to eight months of testing and trials before the Canal is fully operational, said its administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta.



The Bayonne Bridge project is critical to the east coast ports of New York and New Jersey that handle 30 per cent of all goods on the east coast and more containers than its geographical competitors Savannah, Norfolk and Baltimore combined.



The investment of more than US$2 billion over the last decade towards port infrastructure has positioned New York to be well ahead of other east coast ports with the largest rail capacity, largest terminal and berth capacity, biggest labour force and trucking fleet, said the port authority statement.