Adjacent structures on Rt. 518

TRENTON—The Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure soon will begin a project to replace two structures carrying Hopewell-Rocky Hill Road (County Route 518) over a branch of Bedens Brook in Hopewell Township. The structures are adjacent to one another and are located between Elm Street and Aunt Molly Road, immediately east of the Hopewell Borough line.

The anticipated start date is Monday, March 11, with an expected completion time of 150 calendar days, weather permitting. During construction, the bridge will be closed to all traffic on a 24/7 basis. A detour will be posted directing motorists to use Princeton Avenue/Carter Road, Cherry Valley Road and Great Road. A separate truck detour will also be posted directing truckers to use Carter Road and Route 206. Local traffic will be permitted up to the physical road closure point.

Both existing structures (MC #252.2 and MC #252.8) are single-span, simply supported, concrete-encased steel multi-beam structures on full-height concrete abutments, which are supported on spread footings. MC #252.2 is considered scour critical and functionally obsolete. The bridge has a sufficiency rating of 58.2 out of 100. The new structure shall consist of a single-span, precast reinforced concrete adjacent beam superstructure with full-height precast concrete abutments and precast concrete spread footings. The adjacent structure, MC #252.8, is not on the National Bridge Inventory System and as such does not have an associated sufficiency rating. It shall consist of a single-span, precast concrete three-sided rigid frame structure supported on precast concrete spread footings.

Both structures will support a 38-foot-wide cartway and a 5-foot-wide sidewalk along the north side. The proposed cross section will consist of two 12-foot travel lanes, two 7-foot shoulders and steel four-bar bridge railings installed along both sides.

The contract was awarded on Jan. 24, 2019, to Midlantic Construction LLC of Barnegat, which submitted a bid of $2,016,962.82.