Rockaway Twp. bridge project to begin in mid-August
Expect Minor Delays on Valley Road for Five Months
ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, NJ (Morris County) – Work is scheduled to begin on or about the week of Aug. 17 on Valley Road bridge that crosses a tributary of Burnt Meadow Brook in Rockaway Township.
The replacement will be completed in stages to let traffic cross, as Valley Road is a dead end. The project is expected to take about five months to complete.
CMS Construction Plainfield was awarded the bid contract for $328,305. The work is being financed by county government.
Valley Road bridge is a tiny span that is a combination of reinforced concrete with a 54-inch boiler pipe. It has a total length of less than a dozen feet and is 32-feet wide. The date of original construction is unknown.Valley Road intersects with Lake Denmark Road and is a short distance from Green Pond Road.
The boiler pipe is showing corrosion which has prompted the need for replacement. The proposed work also consists of the widening and paving the roadway and installing a new guiderail and pedestrian fencing.
“This may be a small bridge but it is very important to county residents who use it every day, and we have an obligation to maintain it,’’ Freeholder Stephen Shaw said. “It is part of the county’s continuing effort to maintain and upgrade our roads and bridges, to ensure that we provide a first-rate infrastructure for county residents.’’
Morris County has been moving ahead on a series of bridge infrastructure projects this summer, taking advantage of lighter-than-usual traffic during the COVID-19 crisis to get work done with less impact to the motoring public.
The Russia Road bridge replacement project in Jefferson Township started this month, while work continues on the new East Blackwell Street bridge in Dover and the new Waterloo Road bridge in Mount Olive Township and Netcong.
Three county bridge projects already have been completed this year, with each of the spans having reopened: Schooley’s Mountain Road bridge in Washington Township, Chestnut Terrace Bridge in Rockaway Township, and the Mill Road bridge in Morris Township.
