Modernizing Essex County’s Bridges: Work Coming In Nutley

NUTLEY, NJ — The march to modernize several aging bridges in Essex County will continue with a “complex,” $2.8 million replacement effort at the Centre Street Bridge in Nutley, officials announced.

Work is scheduled to begin at the 122-year-old bridge in June and be completed by December 2018, Essex County officials said.

During construction, Centre Street will be closed to vehicular traffic and motorists will be detoured around the area via Joralemon Street and Vreeland Avenue. The “local detour route” will take motor vehicles north along Franklin Avenue, turning onto Vreeland Avenue and then turning onto Passaic Avenue. The “truck detour route” is south along Franklin Avenue, turning onto Joralemon Street and then turning onto Union Avenue.

Pedestrian access across the Third River will be provided via a walking bridge in Yanticaw Park, officials said.

Why replace the bridge? According to county officials:

“The Centre Street Bridge has been classified as ‘structurally deficient’ and a weight limit of 15 tons was recently posted because of its deteriorating condition. The original single span brick arch with ashlar spandrel walls and abutments was built about 1896. Reinforced concrete wingalls were added to the structure in 1929 and the current concrete parapet and gabion wall were installed in 1965 after the north spandrel wall and parapet failed.”

According to the county, the new structure will be constructed of a precast concrete arch with precast concrete wingwalls that will be supported by cast-in-place concrete footings and pedestals. There will be two travel lanes – one in either direction – for motor vehicles and sidewalks for pedestrians. The dimensions will be “virtually identical” to the original structure: a clear span length of 42 feet, a roadway width about 46 feet, and a total bridge width of 66 feet.

Considerations will be taken to preserve the historical character of the area, officials said:

“To maintain the historic character and existing setting in Essex County Yanticaw Park and Nutley Booth Park, the concrete color for the new bridge was set by the NJ Historic Preservation Office. A stone formliner will be used to construct the arch spandrel walls and the parapet walls, the existing ornamental fence will be removed and reset, and an interpretive sign will be installed to inform residents and visitors of the history of the crossing and the Yanticaw-Booth Historic District.”

Essex County officials said that KS Engineers from Newark was awarded a professional services contract for $242,425 to design the project. Pillari Brothers Construction Corp. from Farmingdale, N.J., was awarded a publicly bid contract for $2,879,230 to perform the construction work.

The bridge replacement is being funded with a grant from the NJ Department of Transportation’s Local Bridges Future Needs Grant Program, officials said.

“Replacing the Centre Street Bridge is a complex project because it’s located in the heart of Downtown Nutley and provides critical access through the township,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

“Closing the road will be disruptive, but it will enable the work to progress more quickly than if the replacement was done in stages,” DiVincenzo said. “We understand the hardship being placed on residents and businesses and believe this will minimize the impact. Construction won’t start until the summer, but we are publicizing the project now so residents and business owners can plan ahead.”

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The repairs to the Nutley structure are the county’s latest effort to breathe new life into several aging bridges in the area. Construction projects have recently been undertaken at the 76-year-old Mill Street Bridge in Belleville and the Hoover Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield, built in 1908.

• See related article: Bloomfield's Hoover Avenue Bridge Mended; Berkeley Bridge Construction Continues
• See related article: Belleville Bridge 'Functionally Obsolete,' Repair Work Coming

The presence of “deficient” bridges isn’t unique to Essex County. A recent report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association stated that there are 596 “structurally deficient” bridges in New Jersey.

• See related article: New Jersey Has 596 Structurally Deficient Bridges

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