Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission rededicates newly rehabilitated New Hope-Lambertville Bridge
LAMBERTVILLE, NJ (Hunterdon County) – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission marked the completion of the rehabilitation of the New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge with a rededication ceremony on Tuesday, April 1.
The event, attended by roughly 200 invited guests, featured speeches, music, and a countdown inaugural lighting of the bridge’s new architectural lighting system.
Held at the Lambertville Station Inn’s Riverside Ballroom, the ceremony included a performance of the National Anthem by the New Hope-Solebury High School Chamber Choir and the Pledge of Allegiance led by commanders from both the Lambertville and New Hope American Legion Posts. Welcoming remarks were given by New Hope Mayor Larry Keller and Lambertville Mayor Andrew Nowick, with notable addresses from Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Michael B. Carroll and New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation Fran O’Connor.
Joe Resta, executive director of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, highlighted the bridge rehabilitation project’s history and the challenges overcome, including the discovery and repair of a deteriorated structural connection. He emphasized the importance of the project in ensuring the bridge’s future service.
“Today we celebrate the end of all this work,” Resta said. “This bridge once again is in good repair, extending its service life for future generations of residents, motorists, and visitors.”
The ceremony also featured the inaugural lighting of the bridge’s new color-programmable LED system. The countdown, led by the South Hunterdon Regional Elementary School’s Crazy 8s Math Club, included an April Fools’ Day joke before the lights were officially turned on.
The evening concluded with a festive music march along the bridge’s improved walkway, led by the award-winning South Philadelphia String Band, known for its Mummers performances.
The Commission expressed gratitude to the business owners, residents, and visitors of both New Hope and Lambertville for their patience during the extended construction period, which involved significant noise, detours, and disruptions to tourism and local commerce.
Project Summary
Construction-related activities for the bridge rehabilitation project were initiated with an uninterrupted detour of New Jersey-bound traffic on January 30, 2024. In its project preparations, the contractor – Anselmi & DeCicco, Inc. – devised a revised plan and work schedule that enabled pedestrian traffic to cross the bridge virtually throughout project’s entire duration. The project had been anticipated to end during fall 2024, but the work and related vehicular travel restrictions had to be extended due to the discovery of a severely compromised steel structural pin during the summer paint-removal process. The deteriorated pin and several related steel truss supports were replaced during a 10-day-long bridge shutdown in January 2025. The rehabilitation progressed to the point where the bridge reopened to traffic in both directions on February 14.
Major Project Elements
- Cleaned the bridge’s painted surfaces down to bare metal
- Replaced/repaired corroded structural steel components
- Repainted with a three-coat system – prime coat, mid-coat, finish coat
- Replaced compromised joint mortar and reset masonry on abutments, piers, and walls (Note: there was no in-water work with this project)
- Removed the bridge’s aging and noisy slip-prone fiberglass walkway surface and railings; replaced with a new system of slip-resistant and quieter foam-core fiber-reinforced-polymer panels and new railings with integrated LED-cast lighting from the top railings
- Removed cracked or compromised approach sidewalk concrete slabs and installed new concrete sidewalk surfaces
- Removed the bridge’s prior aging electrical-service system and replaced it with new service lines and connections; installed a backup generator
- Installed a color-programmable LED architectural lighting system that highlights the bridge’s profile along the river
- Replaced a deteriorated structure-critical pin assembly that was discovered during the paint-removal process last summer – first time such a pin replacement was ever attempted and executed on a Commission bridge
Project Work by the Numbers
- 127,000 square feet of bridge-truss surfaces painted
- 700 guide rail posts removed, repainted, and reinstalled
- 2,100 linear feet of new, painted “tri-beam” guide rails to protect steel trusses
- 82,000 linear feet of electrical wiring
- 17,300 linear feet of conduit
- 36,370 linear feet of DMX cable for architectural lighting
- 9,000 linear feet of fiber-optic cable for security cameras
- 26 roadway lights
- 1,800 architectural lights, plus drivers, controllers, junction boxes, networked computer system
- 900 steel repair locations
- 1 custom-fabricated steel pin and 1 temporary custom-designed friction-collar stabilizing device
