(file photo)

NEW HOPE - "For the first time in roughly 15 months we are reaching a point where an active construction project won't be underway at this busy location," said Frank G. McCartney, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission’s executive director. "Once all the work ends, this bridge and its corresponding toll facility will be significantly improved to handle the heavy traffic demands at this busy location."

McCartney noted that four different projects have been conducted at the bridge since the middle of 2010. The last of these is a comprehensive rehabilitation of the bridge's superstructure as well as some corresponding work on the bridge's approaches.

The project has included bearing and deck joint replacement, cleaning and painting of the superstructure of the bridge, repairs to the bridge substructure, replacement of the bridge drainage and underbridge lighting, seal coating of the bridge deck and other elements.

The Commission anticipates that it will reach the substantial completion mark for the project no later than November 4, which is ahead of the original target date. All remaining rehabilitation project work activities are expected to be substantially completed by the middle of December. These final work elements will include removal of the work platform that was installed beneath the bridge earlier this year and execution of "punch-list" items.

In terms of traffic impacts, the project has been limited to off-peak weekday lane closures for roughly a month now. These will continue until the project reaches substantial completion. Motorists, however, may encounter intermittent off-peak lane closures throughout November and early December as work crews dismantle the work platform beneath the bridge and complete other small project elements.

The bridge rehabilitation work is one of four projects that the Commission has or will complete at the Delaware Water Gap/I-80 location by the end of this year. The other projects were/are:

• Delaware Water Gap Express E-ZPass/Open Road Tolling - This included the installation of a single Express E-ZPass lane as well as a series of other improvements to the bridge's remaining five-lane barrier toll plaza. This project began in the late summer of 2010 and reached final completion in July 2011.
• Electronic Toll-Collection System Enhancement - This was carried out in advance of the Express E-ZPass project in 2010 and involved the removal of traffic-control arms (gates) in E-ZPass electronic-toll-collection lanes at the toll plaza and the installation of a camera-based system to identify toll scofflaws.
• Substructure Repair and Scour Remediation - A two-phase initiative, this project involved both underwater and above-water measures to better protect the toll bridge's piers against damage from floods and the inherently corrosive effects of the river's currents. The final work elements of this project are expected to be completed later this month.