(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere
announced the start of work to rehabilitate the Route 13 Lovelandtown Bridge in Point Pleasant Borough. This important
project will overhaul the current movable bridge over the Intracoastal
Waterway (ICW) on the unsigned New Jersey State Highway 13.
This
$2.4 million project was included in NJDOT’s FY04 capital
program, and is funded entirely by the State’s Transportation
Trust Fund (TTF).
“This bridge rehabilitation project is a great example of
Governor McGreevey’s Fix-it-First initiative, which prioritizes
the repair and rehabilitation of our existing roads and bridges,”
Lettiere said. “The rehabilitated bridge will have a positive
impact on the quality of life of local residents.”
NJDOT’s “Fix-it First” strategy entails repairing
existing roads and bridges before investing in new roadway expansion.
Improvements to this bridge including replacing the obsolete drive
and control system with a new state-of-the-art system. This will
allow for quick and efficient raising and lowering of the bridge’s
lift structure. The drive system for the movable bridge is currently
powered by a temporary system that was installed two years ago
after the original system broke down.
This important bridge rehabilitation project will improve traffic
flow through Point Pleasant Borough. In addition, it will contribute
to the economic recovery of Monmouth and Ocean counties by acting
as an engine to spur economic growth.
Construction work began on September 20 and is expected to be
completed and open to traffic by summer 2005. The bridge will
not be closed to vehicle traffic during construction. Work will
be staged in a way to avoid detours and keep the bridge open to
traffic.
“Last year, we began the largest bridge rehabilitation program
in New Jersey’s history,” said Lettiere. “To
date, we have made a significant investment by providing funding
for nearly 70 bridges throughout New Jersey.”
The Route 13 Bridge is located over the ICW, a protected 1,500-mile
inland water highway that runs from Maine all the way to Florida.
The United States Coast Guard requires that NJDOT open the bridge ‘on demand’ of any approaching vehicle.
The ICW was created in the 1800’s by an act of Congress
as an aid to coastal shipping. Today, though its use is mainly
recreational, the ICW is still maintained to strict high standards
by the federal government. The Army Corps of Engineers does the
dredging, and the Coast Guard monitors the buoys and channel markers
along the way.
The $2.4 million construction contract was awarded in June 2004
to Carr & Duff Inc. of Shillington, PA.
