On Friday, Delaware River and Bay Authority officials and representatives from its contractor, UHPC Solutions North America LLC marked the completion of the three-phase, $71 million bridge deck project on the New Jersey bound span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The UHPC project at the Delaware Memorial is the largest application of a new decking technology in North America. All eight lanes will be open to traffic on Nov. 21.
“I’m very pleased that we are able to complete this major initiative ahead of our project schedule and on budget,” remarked Thomas J. Cook, DRBA executive director. “With every construction project, our goal is to complete the necessary work safely while making sure traffic impacts to our customers are kept to a minimum. We want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during all three phases of this reconstruction work on the bridge deck.”
Cook also noted that all three phases were completed ahead of schedule.
During Phase 1, the right two lanes of the New Jersey bound span, west of bridge midpoint (Delaware side”) were reconstructed in the fall of 2022. Phase 2 took place during the spring of 2023 and involved the redecking the full length of the left two lanes. The third and final project phase rebuilt the right two lanes east of the suspended bridge midpoint (“New Jersey side”).
Construction was suspended during the winter months and the peak summer travel season.
The advanced technology UHPC overlay on the Delaware Memorial Bridge costs significantly less than a traditional, full deck replacement, hile also minimizing lane closure times. The work is expected to extend the service life of the bridge deck by several decades, a release stated.
