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news release

P.O. Box 600
Trenton, NJ
Contact: Joe Fiordaliso or Tim Greeley
609-530-4280

RELEASE: July19, 2004

 

Route 70 temporary bridge opens to traffic
in Southampton
Permanant fix ready to begin

(Southampton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Jack Lettiere announced this morning the opening of the temporary bridge on Route 70 over the Friendship Creek in Southampton Township, Burlington County. The bridge opened at approximately 3:30am Monday morning, over two days ahead of schedule. Traffic is moving well on Route 70 and no delays are reported in the vicinity of the bridge.

“Route 70 is a vital East-West corridor through Burlington County, and carries a significant amount of shore traffic from the Philadelphia area. Quickly reopening Route 70 to traffic was our top priority,” said Commissioner Lettiere. “Now that we have a temporary structure in place to carry traffic, we will begin work on the permanent bridge.”

The Route 70 Bridge, which carried the highway over the Friendship Creek near Holly Boulevard in Southampton Township, Burlington County, collapsed last Tuesday due to severe flooding in the area following a major rainstorm.

Commissioner Lettiere immediately closed Route 70 in Southampton and announced that a detour had been set up to divert traffic around the collapsed bridge. In addition, Governor James E. McGreevey declared a State of Emergency in Burlington and Camden Counties in response to widespread flooding.

NJDOT immediately called in its emergency contractor to assess the damage and work with NJDOT personnel to determine necessary repairs. NJDOT originally estimated that the roadway would be closed for 7-10 days until a temporary bridge could be built and Route 70 could be reopened to traffic.

The bridge, owned by the NJDOT, provides for one lane of eastbound and westbound traffic, which was the existing condition on Route 70, and its completion allowed the highway to be reopened to traffic within days of the original bridge’s collapse.

The temporary bridge, a 130-foot, 150 ton steel truss bridge, was constructed on-site and lowered into place by two 550 ton, hydraulic lift cranes.

Work will now begin on a permanent replacement for the original bridge. Final design of the permanent structure is completed, and Commissioner Lettiere stated that he expects construction to begin as early as next week. The temporary bridge, offset by a few feet to the south of the original structure, will remain in place until the permanent structure can carry one lane of traffic in each direction.


 
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  Department of Transportation
  P.O. Box 600
  Trenton, NJ 08625-0600
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  Last Updated:  January 6, 2012