Bridge work scheduled to begin Tuesday

The project will result in heavier traffic and delays for the 35,000 cars that pass over the Van Veghten Bridge daily.

By: Charlie Olsen
   An 18-month county project to rebuild the Van Veghten Bridge connecting Manville and Bridgewater will begin Tuesday, when the two lanes on the eastern side of the four-lane bridge will be closed.
   According to Somerset County principal engineer John Kendzulak, the project to raise the bridge by 3 feet and the profile of the road leading up to it will result in heavier traffic and delays for the 35,000 cars that pass over it daily.
   "The contractor is going to build it in stages, shutting down the two most easterly lanes and ‘demoing’ (demolitioning) half the bridge," Mr. Kendzulak said. "The county recognizes it’s not going to be easy on the public, but it needs to get done."
   The recommended alternative travel route is Route 206.
   By raising the road profile from the intersection of Finderne Avenue and Van Veghten Drive to the intersection of Dukes Parkway East and Main Street, the county will provide 25-year flood protection to the bridge.
   "In another Floyd, it would still go out, but it would go out later and open sooner" as the floodwater recedes, Mr. Kendzulak said.
   On Sept. 19, the $15.1 million project was awarded to Midlantic Construction, of Manasquan. The contract includes an incentive/disincentive clause that rewards Midlantic with $6,850 a day for finishing early — up to 81 days — or penalizes the same amount for finishing late.
   "It’s basically the carrot and the stick," Mr. Kendzulak said. "Hopefully the contractor can get it done early."
   The project will widen the bridge from curb to curb from 48 feet to 56 feet, adding 4-foot-wide shoulders. It will also raise the footpath that runs along the floodplain near the bridge, to keep pedestrians off the road in the event of a flood.
   The original bridge was built in 1934, and was widened in 1977. However, Mr. Kendzulak said that the portions of the bridge that were causing safety concerns were parts of the older framework.
   "It’s 70 years old, that’s about the life of a bridge," Mr. Kendzulak said. "It doesn’t really owe us anything with the amount of traffic it’s seen; it’s served us well."
   Mr. Kendzulak said that the look and the construction of the bridge would be similar to the John T. Basilone Bridge in Raritan with decorative balustrades, and ornamental lighting.
   "It’s going to be a gateway into Manville," Mr. Kendzulak said.
   Mr. Kendzulak estimated construction of the easterly portion of the bridge would be completed in the late spring.