WASHINGTON CROSSING – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission today announced that temporary travel restrictions for motorists and pedestrians will be needed to carry out an upcoming month-long repair project at the Pennsylvania end of the Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge.
The short-term project will address damage caused by an Amazon tractor-trailer that attempted to unlawfully cross the 120-year-old weight-restricted narrow-laned bridge during early morning hours of March 3, 2023. The truck became lodged beneath the bridge’s sign gantry on the Pennsylvania approach. The collision twisted the overhead sign structure and damaged its supports down to the anchorages on each side of the bridge’s Pennsylvania abutment. The approach sidewalk and railings at the location also were damaged.
Commission maintenance personnel managed to dislodge the truck and remove the overhead sign structure to get the bridge reopened that morning. Pennsylvania State Police subsequently issued multiple summonses to the truck’s driver. The bridge has operated without a Pennsylvania sign gantry since the incident.
The upcoming repair project consists of two elements:
- Construction of a Pennsylvania oversized-vehicle-protection structure – This work will entail removal of remaining former gantry components, construction of new reinforced-concrete foundations, erection of a new rolled-steel overhead sign structure, installation of all new signs, and relocation of the bridge’s Pennsylvania-approach low-clearance bar to the new sign gantry.
- Partial replacement of the bridge’s Pennsylvania approach sidewalk and pedestrian railing – This work primarily will involve removal of the existing sidewalk, excavation, and formwork for new concrete sidewalk slabs. The railing work will entail removal, resetting and replacement of railing and posts as warranted for the gantry’s reconstruction or that were damaged by the Amazon truck in March 2023.
The repairs are scheduled begin the morning of Monday, July 7. Weather permitting, the work is anticipated to take three to four weeks. A Commission contractor – Mount Construction Co. of Berlin, PA. – is to perform the work under a job-order arrangement. Virtually all of the work will take place during weekday daytime hours. However, the installation of a steel overhead sign assembly will need to take place during overnight hours (date and times to be announced at a later date).
Anticipated travel impacts for motorists – The contractor may implement flagger-controlled alternating single-lane travel restrictions at the bridge during off-peak daytime hours — 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. A full bridge closure also will be needed for the sign-structure installation during one overnight period – midnight to 4 a.m. on a yet-to-be-determined date.
Anticipated travel impacts for pedestrians – The bridge’s walkway will need to be closed for five days and nights to carry out gantry repair work and subsequent approach sidewalk and railing repairs. The five-day walkway closure currently is anticipated to begin July 14 and end July 18.
Weather permitting, Commission maintenance personnel intend to utilize the walkway closure period as an opportunity to replace additional wooden planks along the bridge’s walkway. Plank replacement work has been taking place intermittently at the bridge since early June.
