New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge Improvement Project

The Commission is in the process of repairing and strengthening the 130 cantilever brackets on the New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge.

The component to be repaired is a steel connection plate that is considered to be excessively prone to rust damage.   One of the multiple connection plates on each bracket will be removed and replaced with higher-strength steel.  The work will involve sawing, grinding, drilling, and spot painting. 

The bridge's outer lanes were closed in November 2007 after a routine inspection detected some rust damage to the cantilever brackets that help support the outer lanes of the bridge.  The bridge is safe, but the Commission closed the outer lanes as a precautionary measure so it could fully assess the situation and develop a repair plan.  This work included load testing and strain testing, metal analysis, and further inspections by the Commission's engineers and consultants. 

Construction is expected to last 6 to 8 months, with an estimated completion date of fall 2009.  Construction activities are expected to have minimal to no impact on traffic.

The following considerations will be undertaken in the execution of these repairs:

• Local noise ordinances will be observed with repair activities taking place 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. There will be no work on Sundays or federal holidays.

• The contractor is required to prevent anything - debris, paint, etc. - from falling into the river and to ensure safe pedestrian travel on the canal paths that cross beneath the bridge

• The bridge will remain open to traffic throughout the project, although the right-hand lanes in both directions will remain closed just as they have been since November 2007.

The Commission's estimated total project cost (design, contruction, engineering oversight, etc.) is $5.3 million.

The four-lane New Hope-Lambertville Toll Bridge was opened to traffic on July 22, 1971. It carries U.S. Route 202 over the Delaware River between Delaware Township, N.J. and Solebury Township, Pa.  The bridge is a 1,682 foot, 10-span steel girder and concrete deck structure. The average daily traffic count on the bridge was 10,700 vehicles in 2007.