News Release

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission rededicated its newly rehabilitated New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge Tuesday night, April 1, with speeches, music, and a countdown inaugural lighting of the structure’s architectural lighting system.

Roughly 200 invited guests and participants attended the event at the Lambertville Station Inn’s Riverside Ballroom.

The National Anthem was sung by the New Hope-Solebury High School Chamber Choir. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Lambertville’s American Legion Post 120 Commander Bob Miller and New Hope’s American Legion Post 74 Commander Robert D. Topolin. Welcoming messages were relayed by New Hope Mayor Larry Keller and Lambertville Mayor Andrew Nowick. The event included remarks from Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Michael B. Carroll and New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation Fran O’Connor.

Joe Resta, the Commission’s executive director, outlined the bridge rehabilitation project’s genesis and execution. He noted the major tasks, travel impacts, and the fortunate discovery and subsequent repair of a severely deteriorated structural connection that forced an extension of the project’s duration.

“Today we celebrate the end of all this work,” Resta said. “This bridge once again is in good repair and its service life is extended for new generations of residents, motorists, and visitors to traverse and enjoy.”

Commission Chairman Aladar G. Komjathy, a Lambertville resident, made it a point to thank the two municipalities’ business owners, motorists, and residents who endured months of noise, detours, and disruptions to tourism and commerce.

“Capital projects are never easy,” said Komjathy. “That’s especially true when the structure needing attention is a weight-restricted two-lane truss bridge like we have here between New Hope and Lambertville. We thank all of you for your patience and understanding. You are all individually and collectively the real shining lights of this newly rehabilitated bridge.”

The inaugural launch of the bridge’s color-programable LED architectural lighting system occurred with a countdown led by the Lambertville-based South Hunterdon Regional Elementary School’s Crazy 8s Math Club students. Well, actually, it was two countdowns. The first was an April Fools’ Day joke where the bridge lights did not come on. Following gasps and then laughter, the second countdown officially triggered the lights. Note: The system’s pier lights were kept off due to the annual shad run that is expected to continue into mid-May.

The commemorative event culminated with members of the South Philadelphia String Band – an award-winning Mummers outfit – leading a music themed march along the bridge’s new improved walkway.

The Commission thanks everyone who was involved with or attended this special event.

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