Middle Valley Bridge Ready Within a Month

The concrete is poured and a time-table has been established for the completion of the Middle Valley Road Bridge.

Members of Konkus Corporation spread the mixture over the deck of the bridge Tuesday morning and smoothed it out as the afternoon wore on. From here, it will take about two weeks to dry and set before anyone can drive over it, Morris County Engineer Stephen Hammond said.

In that time, the approach portions of the roadway will be constructed and paved, leading to both sides of the bridge, Hammond said, weather-pending.

Guide rails will also be installed along the sides of the approaches on each end, Hammond said, and the county is hoping for a completion time of late March or early April.

In a May 2012 presentation to the Washington Township Committee, engineers projected the work would take approximately six months, with worst case scenario lasting eight months.

, the road may be passable before inclement weather strikes the region during winter months.

Of course, Caruso couldn't forecast a hurricane and several snowfalls before the end of 2012, and that timetable was obviously not reached.

The project, which has been years in the making, has removed the old bridge structure–which was supposed to be temporary to begin with–and replacing it with a two-lane roadway.

Motorists who use the road have had to detour, and depending on which direction a driver is headed, has had to loop up to 10.8 miles around the construction. 

The project was originally scheduled to begin in April of 2012, then in July, but didn't kick off until September.