This week crews started installing the horizontal steel support beams for the Bellmawr Browning Road Bridge rebuild project, and I reached out to NJDOT for a timeline update on the full bridge replacement project.
Last week I reported on the arrival of the steel for the Browning Road bridge effort, and I also provided a photo update on the Direct Connection wall rebuild (which I refresh today)
This new local bridge replacement project is part of the $900+ million Direct Connection effort taking place in Bellmawr. This new ground level span when completed will be approximately 400 feet long, traveling over top of Routes 295/42/76 which pass underneath in a recessed space supporting over a dozen lanes.
To keep traffic flowing on the important local Browning Road (which connects the east and west halves of Bellmawr), a temporary bridge was installed just north of this rebuild site.
For the replacement bridge effort, last year workers had created the west side abutment for the new bridge, as well as the adjacent grouping of bridge pier supports.
This year the construction project moved over to the east side of the future bridge span, creating the concrete abutment there as well as a second set of support piers.
It was literally just two weeks ago or so when that final set of support piers were completed, and as I reported in my November 15th the construction team moved right in to and installing the horizontal steel beam supports which will span the 400-foot distance.
The full effort to install these main horizontal beams is a two week effort in total.
This week beams are being installed between the two piers, effectively building out the bridge’s center span.
For next week with the Thanksgiving Holiday and likely higher traffic volumes, there will be no effort taking place on these steel beams.
After the holiday the crews will pick up again with the installation project, working on the steel beam spans for the outer sections to the two East/West abutments.
As they’ve been doing this week, the work will be done overnight and it’s expected to be completed that week after Thanksgiving.
Once all of those beams are in place, work will begin to install the deck pans (for the roadway), the parapets (upper support structures and railings), and numerous utilities which includes gas, water, sewer, phone, cable and fiber optic lines.
The effort to reinstall all of the utilities back onto the main bridge will take considerable coordination and time as each of those listed aspects are completely different utility organizations.
As an example, I’m not sure people realize this but the actual piping for handling the town sewage in this area had to be redirected and shifted over 60 feet or more to the temporary bridge… and then it all has to be brought back again!
Many people tell me “you don’t know sh*t”, and in this case I have to say this really isn’t my expertise… but that effort alone just feels like a big challenge as you have to be able to do that relocation while still keeping the sewage flowing.
Which brings the timeline out to the summer before the final road surface will be poured, and then electrical and finish work would take place after that.
With all that being described, traffic is expected to utilize the new bridge in the Fall of 2025… Effectively one year from now.
Once the new bridge is completed, crews will shift over to dismantle and remove the temporary bridge.
Direct Connection Wall 22 Rebuild
A quick update on the rebuild of the Direct Connection Wall 22, which in last week’s article update I stated they had begun the process to build the vertical wall.
It appears that they have already poured concrete for that first large wall segment. A large approximately 60-foot wide steel form was put in place ahead of pouring concrete for that section.
It does appear that they completed the concrete pour for that first section, and they are dismantling the steel frame (to be relocated over to the next spot).
From the angle on my photos you could see what looks like the poured and now solid concrete, but from the side.
I don’t have a better vantage point of this section today because I was at the site this morning around 7:30 AM on the West side, and just as I was finishing the images in that area (and planning on moving over to the east cemetery side) to get a better angle… the light rain and snow started!
Any amount of rain or snow is not a good environment for my level of drone, so I had to cut my flying trip short.
The irony of this is, about a week ago my drone broke when I slipped out of my hands and fell about a foot, and it messed up the internal GPS module and I could not fly. Thankfully that damage was covered under warranty, and they shipped me a brand new drone which I received last night at 6:00 PM.
So this morning was my very first flight with the brand new drone, and of course it had to start raining! 😉
Well it just gives me an excuse to stop back next weel when they’ve moved the steel form over to the next segment. I absolutely will not be doing an article for each segment, but I think people will want to see and understand what this tall concrete wall’s construction is all about!