YARDLEY, PA – Motorists might encounter periodic daytime lane closures at toll bridges operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission as the agency’s engineers and consultants conduct field inspections over the next few months.
The inspections guide the Commission in identifying structural, operational and safety issues that need to be addressed by the agency’s maintenance crews or through future capital projects.
While much of the work occurs out of sight to the public, lane restrictions sometimes are needed at a bridge or on Commission-owned feeder roads and approach structures. Travel restrictions generally are limited to off-peak single-lane closures. Traffic impacts, if any, are minor.
This year’s inspections will focus on eight toll bridges: Milford-Montague (Route 206), Delaware Water Gap (I-80); Portland-Columbia (Routes 611, 46, and 94); Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22); I-78; New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202); Scudder Falls (I-295); and Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1).
The first to be inspected will be Milford-Montague, which will have single-lane travel controlled by flaggers 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 20-21.
The Commission performs bridge inspections annually. Its toll bridges are inspected in odd-numbered years and its toll-supported bridges (non-toll) are examined in even-numbered years. Under this process, each Commission bridge receives a full examination every two years, a requirement established by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Bridge Inspection Standards. The findings are published in the Commission’s annual inspection reports posted on the Commission website at: http://www.drjtbc.org/documents/inspection/.
