Bloomfield's Hoover Avenue Bridge Mended; Berkeley Bridge Construction Continues

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The replacement of the Hoover Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield is complete, Essex County officials announced on Thursday. The bridge, which was built in 1908 and is situated in a busy area off of Broad Street in Bloomfield's North Center Business District, recently underwent construction after inspectors declared it to be “structurally deficient.”

According to Essex County officials, the original 20-foot long, single-span structure that crossed over the Third River in Bloomfield was constructed in 1908 and was declared to be structurally deficient the last time it was inspected. During the project, the entire bridge was removed and replaced with a precast arch structure supported by cast-in-place footings.

Officials said that the new bridge also has precast concrete headwalls, parapets and wingwalls. In addition, the roadway surface has room for two lanes of one-way traffic and an eight-foot, four-inch sidewalk on either side.

The bridge's façade was constructed using stones from the original structure, officials said.

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Bloomfield Facebook page here.

According to the county, Boswell Engineering from South Hackensack received a $239,980 contract to design the new bridge and provide on-site inspection services while construction was being conducted. Colonnelli Brothers from Hackensack was awarded a publicly bid contract for $744,006 to perform the construction work.

Funding was provided through the NJ Department of Transportation's Local Bridges Future Needs Grant Program, officials said.

The project started May 3, 2016, but was stopped on July 8 when most of the state's transportation programs were shut down. It resumed on Oct. 31, 2016, when the work stoppage ended.

• See related article: Christie Freezes Roadwork After Gas Tax Hike Delayed

"Replacing the bridge created a temporary inconvenience to our residents and motorists, but properly maintaining our infrastructure is important to improving our quality of life and providing safe conditions on our roads," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

"The residents in the area, especially the seniors from Kinder Towers, really appreciate the bridge being reopened because it provides them with easy access across the Third River to Broad Street,” Bloomfield Councilman Nick Joanow said. “It's a major relief.”

WORK CONTINUES ON BERKELEY AVENUE BRIDGE

On Thursday, Essex County officials announced that construction continues at the Berkeley Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield. According to county officials, the $5.7 million project was started in January 2016 and is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Other recent Essex County transportation infrastructure projects in Bloomfield include the reconstruction of the West Street Bridge in 2009 and the Baldwin Street Bridge in 2005, upgrades at the intersection of Belleville Avenue and JFK Drive and Belleville Avenue and Spruce Street in 2012 and East Passaic Avenue/JFK Drive and Hoover Avenue in 2007, and planting 110 trees along Hoover Avenue and Broad Street in 2010.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: Essex County