Townsend’s Inlet Bridge

The following information was provided by the County of Cape May.  The County of Cape May is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge which connects the north end of Avalon to the south end of Sea Isle City

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ — Since our previous Construction Update issued in mid-April, the County and Commission are pleased to advise that work on the bridge project has progressed better than projected and more favorable weather conditions have aided in the accomplishment of a number of critical work activities.

As a result of this progress, we anticipate being able to open the bridge earlier than late summer as initially projected.  Currently, we project a probable opening date to be on or about July 30.  While we have a reasonable level of confidence supporting this earlier date, there remain a number of critical construction activities to be completed in the next three weeks that could have an impact on the final completion date.

To date, all of the pier caps have been placed, deck stringers for spans 1 and 2 are in place, and it is expected that the other remaining framing components will be in place by June 8th.  If work proceeds as expected, the bridge deck surface should be completely poured by June 21st, which will then open the way for the construction of the final bridge components such as the sidewalks and railing.

The County has worked cooperatively with the contractor and engineering teams in order to advance quality work as quickly and responsibly as possible.  Additionally, we continue to explore options to consolidate the construction schedule by permitting contract work to proceed concurrently where feasible.  We have also authorized acceptable changes in the methods of the work completion to accommodate our goal of reducing the remaining project schedule due to our keen awareness of the inconvenience this bridge closure has on the public and our continued focus on obtaining the earliest opening date possible.

We will be providing a final Construction Update in about three weeks at which time a more definitive date for the Bridge’s re-opening will be provided.