COLTS NECK – The turning of the calendar to 2020 will mark 90 years since the construction of the Route 34 bridge over Big Brook near the intersection of Conover Road (County Route 4), by the John G. Taylor Mill Farm.
A recent state Department of Transportation (NJDOT) inspection report stated the 36-foot-long single-span bridge is in poor condition and should be replaced.
The challenge ahead will be how to win federal funding and take on the multiyear project while keeping traffic flowing in the township. The project could take four to five years to complete, but that timeline is dependent on funding availability, officials said.
“The project is still in its infancy, so we can’t speculate the total cost of the project, but the (concept design) phase was federally funded,” said NJDOT project manager Sangaran Vijayakumar at a Dec. 11 public information session at the Colts Neck Township municipal building. “We typically get federal funding (to complete these projects in their entirety), but at this time we’re not sure what type of funding we will get.”
“Each year the NJDOT looks at funding that is available and makes decisions about projects all over the state,” Vijayakumar added. “Right now this project has the highest ranking (on the NJDOT Bridge Management System), so we’re hoping we can secure some funding and it will advance to the next stage.”
The NJDOT’s proposed preliminary preferred alternative is to replace the aging structure with a three-sided concrete culvert. The new widened structure would provide bicycle and pedestrian compatible shoulders, an exclusive right-turn lane in the southbound direction and two travel lanes (one northbound, one southbound) that maintain the current roadway alignment.
The typical lifespan of a bridge such as the existing one is approximately 75 to 100 years, said Martin J. Wade of engineering firm Michael Baker International in Hamilton. At the information session, Wade displayed an exhibit of the project area that described the bridge as “structurally deficient,” and said the deck, superstructure and substructure are in “poor condition.”
The scour – the natural removal of sediment like sand and gravel from the bridge’s abutments and/or piers – was described as “critical.” The bridge’s parapets, the safety barriers on the edge of the bridge, were said to be “substandard.”
The exhibit also illustrated the stretch of Route 34 that crosses over Big Brook and characterized the lanes and shoulders of the county roadway as having “substandard cross slopes,” a “substandard guide rail” and “poor pavement conditions.”
“Based upon its bridge rating, it was determined we should at this time study it,” Wade said. “It’s not that this bridge is unsafe right now. It is a safe bridge to travel over. But when the sufficiency rating drops to a certain level, we look at the age of the bridge and study it to see what’s necessary.”
Wade said sometimes bridges that are studied simply need repairs, rehabilitations or partial replacements. “In this case we’re recommending a full bridge replacement,” Wade said of the Route 34 span.
“One of the things we found out was that there are a lot of vehicles slowing down near that intersection and causing, not crashes all the time, but near-misses,” Wade said. “We actually did have a crash there yesterday (Dec. 10). So we’re also recommending the intersection to be signalized as well, which will aid any vehicles coming out of Conover Road.”
The start of preliminary engineering, the final design phase and construction are still to be determined.
The NJDOT is accepting comments from residents by email. NJDOT regional manager Megan Fackler can be contacted at megan.fackler@dot.nj.gov.
This article was first published in the December 19 – 25, 2019 print edition of The Two River Times.
