NJDOT contractor South State continues to make amazing progress on the Missing Moves project in Bellmawr NJ. They just started putting the steel across Route 42, and have all the pieces in place over Route 295.
In a few days the entire new Missing Moves route will be connected from Route 42 to Route 295!
Work has also been progressing nicely on the other road surface and protective sidewalls of the sections of roadway which had the steel erected much earlier.
Over on Creek Rd, for that new bridge they are working on adding sidewalk on the North side. The South side sidewalk and protective pedestrian fencing was previously completed.
I also have a bonus photo update on the Direct Connection Browning Road bridge demolition, where workers are removing the old columns which were positioned in the center of the highway.
This full Missing Moves project is expected to be completed in late 2023, but I would imagine cars are driving over the roadway sooner than that. The large Direct Connection project is several years behind that.
Missing moves is a $180 million dollar road project in Bellmawr New Jersey to allow access direct access from Route 42 to the Southern sections of Route 295… and of course in the opposite direction also.
If you are unfamiliar and want to read a larger overview on Missing Moves and Direct Connection, check out the 42Freeway Transportation Primer page.
Our last update on Missing Moves was a month ago and you can read that here.
Missing Moves – Roadway Over 42
The two roadway segments over Route 42 and Route 295 were the last segments to be addressed.
Both had additional challenges in building column supports that are mixed in with the highly traveled Rt 295 and Rt 42.
The Route 295 overhead roadway has all of the steel in place and workers have already started constructing the road surface. More on that in the next section.
For Route 42, as we’ve covered a couple times before they needed to create a support column in the middle of Route 42 to support the overhead roadway. This was more challenging as the center divider in 42 is very narrow, and additional lane space needed to be temporarily allocated for the construction vehicles including a large crane.
I learned this week that the overhead steel on 42 is actually three segments.
Earlier last week they installed the center segments which rest on that new center column.
Friday nigh the crews put in the the first two pieces that actually cross over Route 42.
On Wednesday Night I was driving back home around midnight on 42 South and saw the crane in process lifting up one of the horizontal steel girders! State Police vehicles had temporarily halted traffic on 42 North. Unfortunately at that time I couldn’t stop to see more.
On Friday I stopped back at 12:30 am hoping to catch the same scene on video! Seems I was a little too late to see the first piece go into place as it was already resting on the concrete columns and construction crews were working to secure it in place.
I saw on Saturday that they were able to put two of five pieces in place Friday night, and I imagine more were added last night.
It is expected that workers will continue in this manner through the week to install all of the remaining steel pieces over Route 42.
Next weekend is the Christmas holiday and if you haven’t looked at the weather, on Christmas Eve the high temperature drops to under 30! Several reasons to get all that steel up, but it seems with their pace they will have no issues (barring any more crazy rain storms)
Missing Moves – Roadway over Rt 295
As we discussed in the November update, the roadway over Route 295 is in two sections.
With the angle of the roadway over 295 they needed more than just a center column, then needed to build a horizontal support beam across Route 295, for the two sections of steel to connect to.
Three weeks ago it was just that center horizontal beam and two roadway beams.
Today all 10 roadway steel pieces are in place and construction crews have moved on to build the road surface, starting with a protective railing and edge walkway for the construction crews.
The roadway ahead of this section (when traveling from 42North) appears to be mostly constructed. The concrete surface is in place as are the protective side walls.
Based on what is seen on other segments (including directly next it) it seems the entire concrete decking surface will be covered in asphalt.
Missing Moves – Creek Road Bridge
Crews continue to finish the work on the new Creek Road bridge. The core of the bridge has been completed for some time.
Workers are focused on completing the North side sidewalk and will then install the protective pedestrian fencing.
While not clearly visible in my overhead drone shots, the steel rebar frame from the sidewalk is already in place ahead of concrete pouring.
I wasn’t actually certain before if they were putting sidewalks on both sides. Makes logical sense. Well now we know!
The approaches to the new bridge may need some asphalt refreshening, but it really seems like we are only a couple weeks away from traffic having full use of the entire bridge width.
Well as long as the weather cooperates.
Direct Connection – Browning Road Bridge Rebuild Update
Just a short update on the Direct Connection project.
The primary aspect being worked on now continues to be the Browning Road bridge segment,
The goal of course is a new Browning Road bridge roadway where it crosses over Route 76/42. it was engineered to be rebuilt in place of the older bridge, which required several extra steps.
A new temporary bridge to the north has been in place and use for several months.
The bulk of the old bridge is gone, and one side of the bridge abutment appears mostly constructed.
Right now crews are working to remove the two sets of column supports which sit in the middle of the lower highway.
Similar to the new Route 42 column that was constructed for the Missing Moves project, the added challenge has been shifting traffic lanes out of the way so that crews have enough space for equipment and themselves, in the middle of the compact roadway.
One aspect of this I am not clear on is… they will obviously need to build new supports for the new bridge and will they land in similar position, so that crews could develop the new columns as they have lanes shifted?
For the next update I’ll check the plans.
For now its 40 minutes to the start of the Eagles game and I need to get to the Railhouse in Westville!