Middle Valley Road Closes for Bridge Project

After years of blueprints, engineering and strategy, coupled with months of delays and updates, the

Signs were posted , Konkus Corporation of Somerville, held off in the early part of the week.

“The plan is to close the bridge and road (Wednesday) afternoon,” said one of Morris County’s engineers, Brian Caruso. “All signs will go up and the detour route will be established.”

Detours around the project will be lengthy–up to 10.8 miles depending on direction–and will last for months.

Heading east on Rt. 513, drivers will be alerted of a detour via signage before Sliker Road in Califon. Heading west on Rt. 513, drivers will be notified at the intersection of Schooley’s Mountain Road.

Middle Valley Road will be closed to through traffic at the intersection of Zellers Road on the west end.

The entire bridge will be reconstructed during the project, and the timetable for completion could be as long as eight months.

But Caruso seemed optimistic about the new bridge being usable long before that projection came to fruition.

“We’re going to try and get it open before winter begins,” Caruso said. “We’re going to work as hard as we can. Having it ready by the end of the year would be nice.”

Konkus will be constructing the footings for the bridge while it awaits the truss portion of the structure to be delivered from Ohio. That’s where it is being prefabricated, Caruso said.

The truss will arrive in pieces and be assembled, then set on the foundation, on site. Once that portion is complete, the roadway can be passable to motorists, Caruso said.

“The company creating the truss is shooting for November, possibly December,” Caruso said.

If the main structure is put in place before inclement winter weather hits Washington Township, the project can be sidelined until the spring–while still making the road passable–and finished when weather is no longer an issue, Caruso said.

The start of the project falls on the same day and begin the 2012-13 school year.