Community Corner

Detour No More: Middle Valley Bridge Now Open

Adjoining sidewalk still not completed, but road passable.

Not since September 2012 has a vehicle driven over the Middle Valley Road Bridge.

That changed on April 2, 2013 when barriers were removed and local police formally announced the bridge project was complete and the roadway was passable.

Morris County Engineers originally scheduled a time table for completion of the project to be anywhere between six and eight months. Seven months spanned between the road's closure and its reopening for the bridge's replacement.

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In between was a super storm, frigid temperatures and just enough snow to keep pushing the work back farther and farther. Motorists driving on Rt. 513 (East Mill Road) were required to detour up Schooley's Mountain Road to get to the north and northwestern points of Middle Valley Road.

On the other side, Middle Valley Road travelers looking to reach Rt. 513 needed to reroute nearly 10 miles to reach the other side of the bridge.

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As explained in a meeting with the Township Committee during the spring of 2012, the new bridge's details are:

  • 12 feet in height
  • 120 feet long
  • Two 13-foot wide traffic lanes (minimum acceptable width)
  • A four-foot wide sidewalk on the west side of the bridge
  • Approaches will be widened between 60 and 70 feet
  • Color will be foliage green

The structure that was removed was set in place in 1981, and was meant to be a temporary, single lane bridge. It was deemed structurally deficient and functionally obsolete in 2003.

Prior to that bridge, the previous roadway had been in place since 1889. T. Y. Lin engineering and the Washington Township Historical Preservation Commission coordinated extensively so the “truss structure would evoke the feel of an old structure,” said a T.Y. Lin engineer.

Two stone abutments beneath the bridge remained intact as well, and were not altered during the replacement of the bridge.

The bridge's adjoining walkway was not finished as of Tuesday afternoon, and members of Konkus Corporation were still clearing equipment from the area.


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