Jail Cells Placed by Crane

CREST HAVEN – Cell by 55,000-pound-precast-concrete cell, Cape May County’s $37.3-million, 85,000-square-foot correctional center is forming adjacent to the 1976 one it will replace.
Those pre-fabricated concrete-and-steel units are manufactured in Pennsylvania, trucked to the site, and lowered into place by crane. Crews take under 10 minutes to make one cell secure as the crane rolls on to hoist another. That’s one reason construction is well advanced. 
The start of the project on Crest Haven Road was Aug. 1, 2016. Target completion is Aug. 1, 2018, according to Warden Donald Lombardo. Work is ahead of schedule, he noted.
Sheriff Gary Schaffer and Undersheriff Robert Nolan joined the warden June 29 for a tour of the present correctional center, built to house 188, and the future facility that will house 340, including two cells, separated from the others, to house juveniles, should the occasion arise.
Before going into the under-construction site, Schaffer led a reporter on a brief tour of the present jail’s cramped medical unit, with one examination table and a dental chair; the small kitchen, sergeants’ room, with a plastic bottle attached to the air conditioning unit to catch drips, the laundry room, and the processing area.
Along the hallway, Schaffer pointed to rusted door frames, non-functioning locks, and exterior windows caulked to the maximum.
Construction is being performed by Hall Construction Co. and Hill International is overseeing the project for the county, Schaffer said.
Located next to the county Veterans Cemetery, the new facility will have no inmates visible in outside exercise areas, as is the present case. Exercise yards are fully enclosed with air and light supplied by high, louvered windows.
The cavernous interior resembles any facility under construction. Pipes stuck up from the floors, cement was wet in some places, and temporary supports were used in some areas.
Schaffer noted that the center is patterned closely after the 9-year-old Ocean County Correctional Center, but on a smaller scale, as that is a two-story facility. 
The medical unit will have six cells, with a round-the-clock nurse. That alone, Schaffer said, will trim overtime costs. If an inmate is ill, they must be taken to the hospital, requiring two officers to remain with that individual.
Medium security inmates will be housed in bi-level units. The corrections officer will be stationed at an elevated desk in an open environment known as “direct supervision.”
Lombardo said that technique, used in Ocean County, is similar to community policing. The officer gets to know each inmate which, Lombardo said, has proven beneficial in overall operations.
Schaffer noted that once inmates are placed into that housing unit, they will remain there. Interview rooms will serve when inmates meet with attorneys.
Reduction in the movement of inmates minimizes potential problems for staff. Additionally, the main control booth will control all areas in the facility.
Each two-inmate cell is equipped with stainless steel toilet and sink, and bunks, attached to the wall. There are no bars on the cells, by N.J. Department of Corrections (DOC) regulations. The opening that replaced them is high-endurance transparent glass.
The warden noted that special security bolts were used on bunks.
Hooks, on which clothing is hung, will release with minimal pressure; that is to prevent an inmate from hanging him or herself from them.
Lombardo said DOC inspectors have been monitoring construction to ensure the facility is in full compliance with standards.
It is anticipated that relocation of inmates will take place Feb. 21, 2018. Once all inmates are in the new center, demolition of the present jail will begin April 13. On completion of that, the site of the present correctional center will be converted into the parking lot.