A groundbreaking ceremony for the new pedestrian bridge over the Peddie Lake dam has been set for May 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the bridge location – nearly 10 years after the original pedestrian bridge was removed for safety reasons.
Work on the new Greenway Pedestrian Bridge is expected to begin on May 22. The Hightstown Borough Council awarded a contract for $408,575 to Assuncao Brothers, Inc. of Edison to last summer to construct the bridge.
Hightstown Borough was awarded a $408,575 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives program. The town received an additional grant of $121,215 to pay for engineering and inspection costs.
In addition, residents and organizations raised more than $50,000 through fundraisers as of January 2012. Much of the money was spend on site and structural engineering, bridge engineering and pillar removal.
“Everyone in the community showed such great support for this effort,” said Darek Hahn, chairman of the Hightstown Walking Bridge Committee. He added that it was unfortunate that it has taken so many years to get the project under way.
“Those who put the effort out – either through time or money – should know their efforts have not been in vain. The community thanks them all,” Hahn said.
The original bridge was constructed in 1921 in conjunction with Memorial Park, which honors Hightstown’s war heroes. Memorial Park was created in the early 1920’s.
The bridge, which was a central part of the Hightstown landscape, was condemned by New Jersey in the early 2000’s. A young Hightstown girl, Taylor Bell, approached Hightstown Borough Council in November 2009 and told the council that she wanted the bridge to be rebuilt and also wanted to help.
With the support of then-Mayor Bob Patton, an exploratory committee was organized to find out what it would take to build a bridge. The committee settled on a metal arch bridge with some historical design.
The town was set to move forward with the bridge project, but suffered setbacks when Hurricane Irene in August 2011 and Super Storm Sandy in October 2012 caused extensive flooding and damage in Hightstown Borough.
A state inspection of the Peddie Lake dam revealed that the dam was structurally sound, but the abutments holding up the original bridge were hollow and did not have proper footings. This meant a new bridge could not be built in the same location, as planned.
The town went back to the drawing board and came up with a plan to build the bridge over top of the dam. The footings would be outside of the dam itself. The final design called for an 80-foot-long bridge, which is twice as long as originally proposed.
Despite the stops and starts, the design of the bridge has not changed. It will celebrate the history of Memorial Park. Design features include two-sided, hand-hammered steel “medallions” that tell the story of Memorial Park.
A historic marker will be placed next to the bridge, explaining the history of Memorial Park. The plaque will help visitors and residents learn about the town’s history and also encourage them to explore the bridge and the surrounding area.