TRENTON — State Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri filed an interim report on the state’s 6,434 bridges on Aug. 9 in compliance with Gov. Jon Corzine’s Aug. 2 order that every bridge in the state be inspected. Of those 736, or 11 percent, are considered “structurally deficient.”
A 282-page report, ordered to chronicle the safety status of every bridge in the state was ordered in the wake of the Aug. 1 Minnesota collapse that claimed at least eight lives and injured many others when the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River caved in.
Of the 6,434 bridges in New Jersey, including those owned and operated by the State, New Jersey Transit, independent and bi-state authorities, counties and municipalities, there are 736, or 11 percent considered “structurally deficient.”
Those are bridges whose deck, superstructure and/or substructure are deteriorated; however, that does not mean that these bridges are unsafe to travel on.
“I want to assure you that the safety of the motoring public is my highest priority. In fact, under federal regulation, the New Jersey Department of Transportation rigorously
inspects the bridges under its jurisdiction a minimum of every two years, or more if necessary,” Kolluri wrote to the governor.
Additionally, the NJDOT Office of the Inspector General is conducting unscheduled audits and investigations of all movable bridge operational procedures to test for compliance with all aspects of the Movable Bridge Protocol Program.
Kolluri asked the inspector general to conduct similar audits of non-movable bridges as well. In addition, inspections of the seven New Jersey bridges with similar deck truss structures as the bridge in Minneapolis have been ordered for immediate inspection based upon the Federal Highway Administration directive.
Those inspections began Aug. 6 and will be conducted over the coming weeks.
“Our focus is not just on inspection but funding bridge repair and maintenance programs, understanding that the fiscal constraints are enormous. Regularly scheduled and, if necessary, emergency maintenance is performed on our bridges, as determined by our bridge engineers and
maintenance operations staff, on an on-going basis, and all available resources are devoted to this
Endeavor,” Kolluri stated.
The state has $509 million in Fiscal Year 2008 dedicated to bridge preservation and maintenance.
The state bridges that are identified in the attached report as “structurally deficient” are prioritized to ultimately be replaced or rehabilitated through the Capital Program process.
The vast majority, of bridges, 5,125, are owned by the NJDOT, county and municipal governments.
Bridge facts contained in the report include:
* 4,196, or 66 percent, of New Jersey’s bridges are neither Structurally Deficient nor Functionally Obsolete.
* 1,502, or 23 percent, are Functionally Obsolete.
* 396 bridges are Load Posted which limit the weights of trucks using the bridges.
* 279 bridges are required to have safety inspections at a
more frequent cycle than the once every two years as required under federal regulations.
These bridges, 70 state, 14 NJ Transit, 185 county/municipal, four toll Highways and six special agency, are required to have interim inspections of the structural members where a potential exists for deterioration that could cause a loss of load carrying capacity.
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Cape May County Bridge Commission’s Report
Contained within the state DOT report on bridges was County Engineer Dale Foster’s report on the Cape May County Bridge Commission’s spans.
Those bridges are:
*Middle Thorofare, connecting Cape May and Five Mile Beach.
* Grassy Sound, connecting Five Mile Beach and Stone Harbor, one is a toll bridge, the other is free, and was upgraded within the last five years.
* Townsend’s Inlet, connecting Seven Mile Beach with Sea Isle City.
* Corson’s Inlet, connecting Strathmere with Ocean City.
* Ocean City-Longport, connecting that city to Atlantic County. The newest of the toll bridges.
Foster wrote Aug. 6 to Patricia Snyder, executive director of Policy and Coordination at NJDOT:
“Each of the five bridges owned and operated by the commissioner was the subject of one or more priority repair letter.
The commission has engaged the services of PB Americas Inc. Princeton, or Bergmann Associates, Inc. Jersey City to address many of the items noted in the priority repair letters for all structures.
Four of the five bridges are rated “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete.”
Four of the bridges, which are from 1,032 feet to 3,400 feet, are load rated at 15 tons. Their original design was for 17.5 ton vehicles.
“The Cape May County Bridge Commission is a financially strapped public agency that has recently bonded for approximately $10 million,” Foster wrote.
“Most if not all of these funds will be expended just addressing the emergency and or priority repairs noted in the most recent bridge reevaluation cycle.
:Substantial additional funds are required to clean and paint the bridge so as to arrest the currently unabated corrosion of the structural steel in thie harsh marine environment,” Foster concluded.
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