Sea Bright Bridge Realigned

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County officials are looking to replace County Bridge S-32, which connects Sea Bright to Rumson, over the Shrewsbury River. The bridge was built in 1950.
County officials are looking to replace County Bridge S-32, which connects Sea Bright to Rumson, over the Shrewsbury River. The bridge was built in 1950.

MONMOUTH COUNTY WORKERS have begun to paint the new alignment pattern for the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge on the Rumson side, at the request of borough residents who are wondering how it could potentially impact their lives.
Workers also may have to repeat the paint job if rain comes quickly and washes the delineation marks away from the West Park area, and will have to do the same on the Sea Bright side of the bridge if residents there request to see a physical manifestation of the traffic engineering plan, explained county spokeswoman Laura Kirkpatrick.
The residents of the West Park area of Rumson are concerned and these markings will delineate the traffic patterns.
The painting of the alignment is very preliminary as the construction is not likely to occur before 2018, officials said. Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long has said most of the concern seems to be coming from the Rumson side of the bridge. Kirkpatrick agreed. Rumson Administrator Thomas S. Rogers could not be reached for comment.
The bridge was built in 1950. Before that bridge was constructed, a 1920s-era span that extended from Rumson Road to the current location of Swing Bridge Park in Sea Bright served the community.
The bridge needs to be replaced for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it has simply outlived the usefulness of the construction, officials said.
“During periods of tidal flooding or coastal/northeasterly storms, Ocean Avenue frequently becomes impassable,” according to an official county document distributed during a public meeting about the project. Because of this, county and local officials have agreed that at all periods in time, there has to be a workable bridge as an evacuation route. Therefore, if the existing bridge were to be repaired or to be replaced as it is, a temporary, movable bridge would be constructed where the original 1920s bridge stood.
The current bridge does not meet the National Inspection Standards inspection report for bridges. The superstructure of the current bridge is “in poor condition with areas of rust,” the handout notes. Photographs that illustrate the rust and poor conditions of the bridge also were displayed. The mechanical and electrical systems have not been replaced. The roadway approaches to the bridge, while in fair condition, do not meet current safety standards, officials said.
The drawbridge bridge opens about 4,000 times a year for boat traffic and about 50 times a day in the summer months. It also serves as a key flood evacuation route for Sea Bright, one of three. The new design also will be a drawbridge.
The plans for Rumson-Sea Bright resemble the Hubbard’s West Front Street Bridge. That structure spans the Swimming River between Middletown and Red Bank.
The new Red Bank bridge is 44-feet wide with two 12-foot travel lanes and four-foot shoulders and six-foot sidewalks in both directions. The new bridge provides approximately nine feet of vertical clearance above mean high water elevation, with 72 feet of horizontal clearance within the navigable channel of the Swimming River.
The architectural enhancements already in place include a decorative recessed brick panel parapet with a decorative ball and cap railing, according to Freeholder Serena DiMaso.
– By Carol Gorga Williams