7 Spans on Townsend’s Inlet Bridge To Be Replaced; Closure to Occur

CREST HAVEN – Seven spans on the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge will be replaced beginning “a week or two after Labor Day,” according to County Engineer Dale Foster. Cost of the repair will be $8.5 million under a contract awarded to Agate Construction Co. Inc.
The spans to be replaced are on the Avalon side of the bridge. The project will mean the closure of the bridge to vehicular traffic through the winter meaning Sea Isle City and Avalon residents, and possibly emergency vehicles, must have to travel out causeways and on the mainland getting to their destinations.
The work should be complete by Memorial Day Weekend 2019, Foster said.
Foster told freeholders, prior to approval of the resolution, that Agate’s was the lowest of six bids received June 27. They ranged from the awarded bid to $14.7 million. Next lowest bid was $9.7 million, he added.
“We did have a meeting with Agate before awarding the contract and they feel comfortable moving forward,” Foster said.
Agate was the firm engaged to make emergency repairs on the Great Channel (96th Street) Bridge June 20 when a crack was found in a beam on that span. It was finishing that project on July 11.
Foster told the board that every means possible had been used to plan a repair as expeditiously as possible. That meant using readily accessible parts that did not require a special order.
Closure of the bridge immediately after Labor Day drew a question from Freeholder Will Morey who offered Sept. 25 might be a better date for closure, allowing added time in the offseason.
“No,” replied Foster, “We have a tight timetable. We have to be out of the water by March 1. There’s a lot of work to do.”
March 1 is a work stoppage date for in-water projects, set by the state Department of Environmental Protection, Foster said.
He cited the project last winter on the same bridge when rip-rap stone was being removed around pilings. To proceed with soil borings, something that, he said, did not disturb any surrounding area, required “numerous letters and emails (to the DEP), and finally, we were allowed to do the work.”
Another part of the “tight time frame” he cited was that the contractor “needs to do as much work in good weather” as possible prior to January and February when “it is difficult to work in those conditions. And, the fact that DEP will not let us go past March 1 with in-water work,” Foster said.
“Believe me, this bridge, these replacement seven spans, will not win an award. This is a basic bridge,” said Foster.
“We tried to do everything possible, everything to get this done as quickly as possible with this project,” Foster said.
Factors to be considered are the amount of rip-rap stone placed around pilings, and the weather, especially nor’easters, which can stop work when access to the bridge is hampered or closed by waves.
Vice Director Leonard Desiderio, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Director Gerald Thornton, quipped, “This is not my first trip over this bridge.” He had hoped for an earlier start, to build in “leeway” citing weather which could delay the project’s completion.