Commission says bridge safe despite hole in apron

The Lambertville-New Hope free bridge carries a rating of "satisfactory," officials said.

By: Linda Seida
   An approximately 3-by-4-foot-wide large hole in the concrete apron of the 103-year-old New Hope-Lambertville bridge does not affect the bridge’s structural integrity, a Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission spokesman said Tuesday.
   The steel truss bridge is safe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and it carries a rating of "satisfactory," spokesman Pete Peterson said.
   In contrast, the Centre Bridge-Stockton bridge carries a rating of "good." The commission completed a $9.4 million renovation of that span this year and rededicated it in July.
   The commission has known about the hole in the New Hope-Lambertville bridge since 2006, but it does not know for sure what caused it, Mr. Peterson said. Consistently high waters had prevented staff from performing a thorough inspection, although Mr. Peterson said the river is running lower now.
   Tuesday, an engineer examined the hole in the apron from a boat. An apron is a piece of the structure on which a pillar sits.
   Mr. Peterson said the hole is visible only from the vantage point of a boat on the water. The onsite assessment Tuesday concluded the hole is not a cause for immediate concern. The condition of the apron has not changed since an inspection last year when the hole was first discovered.
   The apron is a "somewhat sacrificial" feature, a "redundant source of protection," Mr. Peterson said.
   Its purpose is to protect the underlying piers and substructure.
   Typically, such damage to bridges can be caused by debris or the effects of water wearing on materials over time, Mr. Peterson said.
   A New Hope woman became concerned when she spied the large hole as she traveled the Delaware River in a pontoon boat last weekend. She reported the damage Monday to the commission.
   The public’s concern over the safety of the nation’s bridges increased in the wake of the massive bridge collapse Aug. 1 in Minneapolis. The 40-year-old Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during rush hour, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others. At least eight others remained missing Tuesday.
   None of the commission’s bridges along the Delaware River have been deemed deficient, Mr. Peterson said.
   The hole in the New Hope-Lambertville bridge is closer to the Pennsylvania side, according to the New Hope woman, who refused to identify herself when she called the newspaper.
   Inspectors now are concentrating on the Scudders Falls and Milford Montague bridges. These spans have similar features to the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis, Mr. Peterson said.
   The commission rehabilitated the New Hope-Lambertville bridge in 2004 at a cost of about $6.3 million because of age-related wear and tear. Last year, the commission also repaired a 7-foot dent in one of the truss’ horizontal cords. Flood debris caused the damage.
   According to the commission, its staff conducts regular engineering inspections of each of its 20 bridges every two years. Personnel also conduct visual inspections once every work shift or every eight hours. Additional inspections occur after significant events such as flooding or major accidents.
   The bridge, a 1,046-foot steel span, was built in 1904. Earlier structures in the same location were made of wood and destroyed by floods in 1841 and 1903.