Skanska and FlatironDragados JV Chosen to Develop $1B D.C.-Area Rail Project
The project aims to modernize the freight and passenger rail corridor between Washington and Northern Virginia
By Nick Trombola July 7, 2025 3:09 pm
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Virginia’s state rail authority is one major step closer to its 10-figure commercial and passenger rail link modernization project between Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) awarded $1 billion to a joint venture between Skanska and infrastructure construction company FlatironDragados to build the Long Bridge North Project, a one-mile rail link between Arlington, Va., and Southwest D.C.
The Long Bridge North Project is a part of the larger, 1.8-mile Long Bridge Project, which aims to replace the century-old, two-track rail line, dubbed Long Bridge, with a series of four-track rail bridges and corridors. The new lines will serve both freight and passenger travel in what is often referred to as one of the country’s most in-demand, and bottlenecked, rail corridors. The entire project is expected to cost about $2.3 billion.
“[The Long Bridge North Project] will vastly improve freight and passenger rail service in the capital region,” Michael Viggiano, executive vice president of Skanska USA Civil, said in a statement. “With funding in place and planning and approvals now complete, this highly complex and critical infrastructure project is shovel ready.”
Long Bridge has a deep history in the DMV. The original iteration opened in 1809, and the currently used bridge was built in 1904, with substantial improvements made in the early 1940s. CSX Transportation owns the current rail line, which is used by CSX freight trains, Amtrak intercity trains and Virginia Railway Express passenger trains. VPRA’s Long Bridge Project is due to include seven new bridges across the Potomac River and approximately 20,000 feet of new track.
The modernization project, meanwhile, has been in the works for over a decade. The District Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration, which also support the project, began a study in 2011 to either repair or replace the existing rail line. The agencies concluded in 2019 that a new bridge was needed to meet demand in the region.
Construction on the project is set to begin this month, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2030.
Skanska and FlatironDragados’ contract comes nearly a year after rival Kiewit Infrastructure Company was chosen to design and rebuild another bridge in the DMV. The Maryland Transportation Authority last September awarded $73 million to Kiewit for Phase 1 of the Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement project, after the bridge partially collapsed in April 2024. The new, 1.6-mile span is expected to open in 2028.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
