The ongoing emergency work on the Delaware River Bridge connecting the New Jersey and Pennsylvania turnpikes will close the span until at least April, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Friday.
Authorities shut down the bridge Jan. 20 after inspectors found a sizable crack in a steel support under the westbound lanes on the Bucks County, Pa. side. The bridge is owned by both states’ turnpike commissions.
Crews are currently erecting eight, temporary tower supports on the Pennsylvania side to repair the crack, which has been patched. The crack caused the bridge to shift and settle, and that needs to be repaired too, officials have said.
How to get around the closed Delaware River Turnpike Bridge
The Pennsylvania commission said an emergency task force of two dozen public and private engineering officials from both states reported Friday that an early April opening is the “best-case scenario.”
That scenario is one that doesn’t involve a more complex, partial reconstruction of the span, “or possibly even replacement of the entire structure,” the commission said in a statement.
“We recognize that those who travel through, live, or work in this region have been considerably inconvenienced by this closure, and we are as excited as anyone to see it reopen,” Pennsylvania Turnpike Chairman Sean Logan said in the statement.
Logan said the crews are working around the clock to resolve it. “It would be reckless to put a single vehicle back onto this structure before we trust its stability,” he said in the statement.
The Pennsylvania commission said the task force is preparing several plans. But they hope that repairing the cracked I-beam by constructing a permanent splice will complete it.
They will not know until the towers are in place, the splice is made and sensors analyze the loads and stresses on the bridge and compare it estimated outcomes from computer models, Pennsylvania commission chief engineer Brad Heigel said.
“This monitoring — which involves affixing about 50 sensors to the structure — is the only way we can confirm that the splice is successful before we reopen the bridge,” Heigel said.
“If more extensive repairs would be required, it is not possible to offer even a rough estimate on the scope or duration of further construction because we simply do not have adequate information to make that projection,” Heigel said.
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Richard T. Hammer, who serves as chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority board, also said everyone wants the bridge opened as soon as possible, but safety is the key.
“We understand the inconvenience this closure creates for tens of thousands of drivers every day,” Hammer said. “But we won’t allow a single car to cross that bridge until we are absolutely certain that it is safe.”
Earlier this week, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority commissioners approved a total of $9.15 million in contracts to build foundations and the eight, 80-foot towers that will jack up the bridge for the repairs.
The 1.25 mile bridge handles 42,000 vehicles cross daily. IN addition to the bridge, the westbound lanes of the five-mile highway – called the Pearl Harbor extension – from exit 6 on the New Jersey Turnpike remain closed to traffic as well.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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