Politics & Government

How Do Brick's Bridges Stack Up?

Report says cost to repair all of Ocean County's spans would exceed $300 million

Ocean County’s aging bridges are in need of repair, but the cost to do the work would exceed $326 million, a new report released Monday showed. 

Of the county’s 290 bridges, about 6 percent have been rated structurally deficient, according to a report from NJ Spotlight.  

Additionally, 13 percent of the bridges in the county – which include those owned by municipalities, the county itself as well as the state – are considered to be functionally obsolete and not in line with current lane and shoulder standards, or occasionally flood, according to National Bridge Inventory data. The average age of an Ocean County bridge is 43 years old.

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Brick has the advantage of being home to some of the county's state of the art bridges, such as the new Beaver Dam and Mantoloking bridges, but some in and near the township are in need of some work.

Some local bridges the data highlights for repairs include:

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  • Hooper Avenue 600 feet north of Mantoloking Road; considered functionally obsolete; built in 1973 sufficiency rating 74.3 percent; 21,856 cars per day; estimated repair cost $2,005,000.
  • Burnt Tavern Road and Garden State Parkway; considered functionally obsolete; built in 1953 sufficiency rating 55 percent; 37,000 cars per day; estimated repair cost $245,000 for widening project.
  • Route 88 at Beaver Dam Creek (Brick/Point Pleasant Boro border); considered structurally deficient; built in 1923 sufficiency rating 45.1 percent; 20,365 cars per day; estimated repair cost $806,000.
  • Lanes Mill Road at Lanes Mills Crossing (near Brick/Lakewood border);  considered functionally obsolete; built in 1985 sufficiency rating 73.1 percent; 21,817 cars per day; estimated repair cost $2,715,000.

The report also said both bridges over the Point Pleasant Canal were functionally obsolete, as well as the Broadway bridge which spans Cooks Creek in Point Pleasant Beach.

About one in four bridges in the state are either in poor condition or unable to handle current traffic loads, the data showed.

Each bridge was rated based on structure, substructure and its deck to determine the type of work needed to fully restore the bridge. Some of the more highly trafficked bridges are under the ownership of the state and recommended work.

NJ Spotlight is an issue-driven news website that provides critical insight to New Jersey’s communities and businesses. It is non-partisan, independent, policy-centered and community-minded.


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