Error delays Branchburg bridge project, while another bridge project is proposed
BRANCHBURG - While one bridge replacement project in the township is delayed because of a survey error, Somerset County is presenting plans to replace a bridge on another Branchburg road.
The county announced last week that construction of a new bridge on Old York Road over the Holland Brook has been delayed with no date set for its completion.
The county has unveiled plans to straighten a S-curve and build a new bridge over Brokaw Brook on South Branch Road just east of Neshanic Valley Golf Course.
Construction of the Old York Road bridge was initially scheduled to be completed this summer, but according to the county, the contractor, Kalogridis Contracting, is awaiting approval for a corrective plan to to address a construction layout survey error.
Once that plan has been approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the county, construction could begin in a few weeks and the project could be completed in about five months.
The county said it will not announce a completion date until the corrective plan is approved. The county expects DEP approval within a few weeks.
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Somerset County has also said it will straighten South Branch Road and replace the Brokaw Brook bridge in 2023.
The preliminary schedule calls for the estimated $4 million project, funded by the county's capital monies, to be bid in November. Construction could start in March 2023 with the road being closed for about two months starting in July 2023.
Though the bridge was built in 1926 and is still in satisfactory structural condition, the span is classified as "functionally obsolete" due to its narrowness.
The county plans to widen the road at the bridge from 22 feet to 36 feet to comply with current state Department of Transportation standards. The average daily vehicle count on the road is 1,922.
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Also scheduled for 2023 is the closure of River Road in Hillsborough north of the Elm Street Bridge for widening and erosion control from the South Branch of the Raritan River.
That project is also tentatively scheduled to go out to bid this fall with the road being closed about April 1, 2023 with project completion in December 2023.
No date has been set for the replacement of the Picket Place bridge over the South Branch of the Raritan River less than a mile north of the River Road project.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Error delays Branchburg bridge project, while another bridge project is proposed
