State Adds Extra Level Of Protection To Manahawkin Bay Bridge Project

The three trestle bridges included in the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project will be buoyed up with extra protection to reduce wave action and turbulence from major storms, according to The Sandpaper.

“We are working on a scour countermeasure system,” said Steve Balzano, of Parsons-Brinckerhoff, the bridge project design engineering firm. “Sandy made us realize that we needed to put some type of extra measures in place because of the possibility of major storms.”

Balzano spoke at a public information session in Ship Bottom recently to update the public on the status of the project.

The extra protection is a series of "marine mattresses," - stone-filled grout bags that are each 20 by 5 feet to reinforce the Hilliards, West and East sections of the bridge.

“The trestle bridges would eventually have to be replaced, but that’s not a high priority for us at this time,” he said.

The bridge project includes the construction of the main new bridge parallel to and south of the bay bridge and improvements to the existing bay bridge and thoroughfares. Construction of the new bridge should be finished by next month, Balzano said.

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