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Amtrak taps HNTB to design replacements for two aging Maryland rail bridges

Amtrak taps HNTB to design replacements for two aging Maryland rail bridges

Built World

Bush River and Gunpowder River spans on the Northeast Corridor could carry trains up to 160 mph once rebuilt.

October 9th, 2026: Amtrak selects HNTB for both bridge replacements

Overview

Updated Oct 11

Amtrak picked HNTB on October 9, 2026 to design replacements for two Maryland bridges on the Northeast Corridor. The Bush River and Gunpowder River spans, both about 113 years old, carry more than 100 trains a day between Baltimore and Wilmington.

The replacement targets train speeds up to 160 mph, up from 125 today. A fixed Bush River span would also end the movable bridge's 20-person opening crew. Boaters and the Harford County Council want higher vertical clearance than first proposed, and the Coast Guard's ruling on that is still pending. Only preliminary engineering is funded so far.

Why it matters

A stuck Bush River span stalls every Amtrak train between New York and Washington, and the bridge already caused 72 hours of delays in 2019.

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Key Indicators

$750M
FRA's projected cost for the Bush River replacement
Federal Railroad Administration estimate for the new fixed span, cited by the High Speed Rail Alliance.

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People Involved

Christian Brown, PE
Christian Brown, PE
HNTB project manager for the Bush River and Gunpowder River bridge replacements
Leading the design effort selected by Amtrak on October 9, 2026
 Greg May, PE, LEED AP
Greg May, PE, LEED AP
HNTB Eastern U.S. rail and transit leader
Oversees the firm's rail portfolio across the region
SK
Sarah Kestner
Representative, Gunpowder Bush Waterways Advocacy Group
Pressing Amtrak and the county on navigation and environmental concerns

Organizations Involved

Amtrak
Amtrak
National passenger railroad
Owner of the bridges and lead sponsor of the replacement projects

Operates most rail service on the Northeast Corridor and owns the Bush River and Gunpowder River bridges.
HNTB Corporation
HNTB Corporation
Engineering and design firm
Design lead for the two bridge replacements

A design and engineering firm with three decades of Northeast Corridor bridge work for Amtrak.
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal agency
Primary funder of preliminary engineering

The U.S. agency that funds Amtrak infrastructure and maintains the Northeast Corridor Project Inventory.
GB
Gunpowder Bush Waterways Advocacy Group
Community advocacy group
Lobbying for higher bridge clearances and environmental mitigation

Community group representing boaters and marinas on the Gunpowder and Bush rivers

Timeline

1913 2029

6 events Latest: October 9th, 2026 · 1 month ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Preliminary engineering scheduled to conclude

    Upcoming Milestone

    Design and environmental review for both bridges are on track to finish in 2029, pending future construction funding.

  2. Amtrak selects HNTB for both bridge replacements

    Latest Contract Award

    HNTB wins the architectural and engineering services contract for the Bush River and Gunpowder River bridges, covering a 20-mile stretch of the Northeast Corridor.

  3. Public meeting on both bridge projects draws navigation concerns

    Community Engagement

    Boaters and marinas told Amtrak the proposed bridge clearance would not fix existing navigation problems. Amtrak said clearance talks are ongoing with the Coast Guard as a decision-maker.

  4. Harford County Council urges higher bridge clearances

    Government

    The council unanimously passed Resolution 032-26 asking the U.S. Coast Guard and Amtrak to raise vertical clearances on the new spans and to consider keeping an opening span on the Bush River bridge.

  5. Bush River Bridge failures cause 72-plus hours of delays

    Incident

    Failures of the movable span delay Amtrak and MARC trains across multiple days in a single year.

  6. Gunpowder River and Bush River bridges open

    Construction

    Both spans complete as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line through Maryland.

Scenarios

1

Amtrak lands construction funding, both bridges replaced by 2035

Possible Resolves by End of 2035

Discussed by: Federal Railroad Administration's NEC Project Inventory lists both bridges as key priorities; Amtrak and HNTB frame the design phase as advancing higher-speed rail service.

The FRA grant covers only preliminary engineering and environmental review. If Congress or the FRA later obligates final design and construction money, the project moves from the drawing board to the field. A fully replaced corridor would lift speed limits to 145 mph on Gunpowder River and 160 mph on Bush River, and the fixed Bush River span would eliminate the 20-person opening crew.

2

Preliminary engineering ends in 2029 with no construction money

Possible Resolves by End of 2029

Discussed by: Amtrak's own release notes that additional future funding would be required for final design and construction.

The current grant funds design and NEPA review only. If no construction appropriation arrives, the project stalls at the design table. The bridges keep operating under their current restrictions, speeds stay at 125 mph, and the Bush River crew keeps hand-cranking the span open for boat traffic.

3

Bush River Bridge failure shuts the corridor before replacement

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2029

Discussed by: Amtrak's documented record: the bridge caused 72-plus hours of delays in 2019 and has failed to close after openings.

The movable Bush River span has a history of jamming open, which stops every Amtrak and MARC train between New York and Washington until it is cleared. A failure that takes days to fix would produce the kind of corridor-wide disruption the replacement is designed to prevent. This is the risk scenario that motivates the project's priority status.

4

Community clearance demands force design change and a higher budget

Possible Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: Harford County Council, Gunpowder Bush Waterways Advocacy Group, U.S. Coast Guard

The county council unanimously resolved that Amtrak and the Coast Guard should raise the new bridges' vertical clearance and keep an opening span on Bush River. If the Coast Guard's fall 2026 navigation clearance determination sides with boaters, Amtrak may have to redesign the spans and raise its roughly $750 million estimate for the Bush River bridge.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2010 – November 2026

Portal North Bridge replacement, New Jersey (2010–2026)

The old Portal Bridge, a roughly 116-year-old swing span over the Hackensack River, was a notorious single-point failure on the Northeast Corridor. HNTB, in a tri-venture with two other firms, designed the replacement: a fixed high-level arch bridge that stands 50 feet above the water. The first track entered service in 2026, and the final track transfer began October 9 that year, with full service scheduled to resume November 15.

Then

Five weeks of adjusted rail schedules while crews transfer the final track to the new bridge, ending a century of swing-span operations.

Now

A fixed span removes the old bridge's opening mechanism, the corridor's recurring failure point, and supports higher speeds and more frequent service.

Why this matters now

Portal North Bridge is the template for what Amtrak and HNTB are doing in Maryland: replacing a century-old movable bridge with a fixed span to eliminate a single-point failure on the busiest passenger rail corridor in the U.S.

Ongoing as of 2026

Susquehanna River Rail Bridge replacement, Maryland (ongoing)

Amtrak is replacing a movable bridge over the Susquehanna River in Maryland with two 4,000-foot, two-track fixed twin bridges. HNTB leads the design. The project doubles the crossing from two tracks to four and replaces the aging movable structure.

Then

The new fixed spans are under construction, with HNTB delivering conceptual and final design.

Now

Four tracks over the Susquehanna lift capacity and lay groundwork for higher-speed rail integration on the corridor.

Why this matters now

Same HNTB-Amtrak partnership, same movable-to-fixed bridge pattern, and same state: the Susquehanna work gives HNTB an active design playbook in Maryland that the Bush River and Gunpowder River projects will follow.

Sources

(11)
+5
HNTB Amtrak via Public Corp and Work Local Germantown Amtrak Media WMAR-2 News Citizen Portal Gunpowder Riverkeeper High Speed Rail Alliance HNTB HNTB