Bridge W-7: Green Avenue over Debbie’s Creek
(Structure No. 13000W-7)
KEY NOTES:
- CONSTRUCTED 1944
- 120′ LONG FIXED (7 SPAN) TIMBER BRIDGE
- ROADWAY WIDTH 21.7′
- 2.9′ WIDE SIDEWALK
- 10″ SANITARY SEWER FORCE MAIN
CONCERNS:
- NARROW BRIDGE ROADWAY WIDTH (21.7′)
- SUBSTANDARD LIVE LOAD CAPACITY
- SUBSTANDARD RAILINGS
- 2013 NBIS REPORT SUFFICIENCY RATING OF 18.7
- 2015 NBIS REPORT SUFFICIENCY RATING OF 18.5
Structure W-8: Fisk Avenue Culvert
KEY NOTES:
- CONSTRUCTED 1946
- 80″ x 80″ FLAT BOTTOM REINFORCED CONCRETE PIPE STRUCTURE
- 34.8′ CURB TO CURB WIDTH
- 6′ WIDE SIDEWALK
CONCERNS:
- CULVERT SUBMERGED & PARTIALLY SILTED
- DETERIORATED STEEL SHEETING RETAINING WALL AND CULVERT PIPE
Bridge W-9: Brielle Road over the Glimmer Glass
(Structure No. 13000W-9)
KEY NOTES:
- CONSTRUCTED 1889 – 590′ LONG FIXED TIMBER TRESTLE BRIDGE
- 1938 – BASCULE MOVABLE SPAN INSERTED
- 1950 – MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION & REDUCED TO 279′ LENGTH
- 2008 – LISTED ON NJ & NATIONAL REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES
- 2014 – EMERGENCY INTERIM REPAIRS TO TIMBER APPROACH SPANS & PILES
CONCERNS:
- NARROW BRIDGE ROADWAY WIDTH (20′ & VARIES)
- SUBSTANDARD LIVE LOAD CAPACITY
- SUBSTANDARD RAILINGS
- SUBSTANDARD VERTICAL CLEARANCE
- SUBSTANDARD AND NON-REDUNDANT MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
- 2013 NBIS REPORT SUFFICIENCY RATING OF 2.0
- 2015 NBIS REPORT SUFFICIENCY RATING OF 10.1 (EMERGENCY REPAIRS)
CHRONOLOGY OF BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION:
- A fixed bridge was constructed at the present location of Bridge W-9 sometime between 1873 and 1889
- The movable component of the present bridge was designed and constructed by the NJ State Highway Department in 1922 – it was intended to provide for the temporary crossing of Route 4 (now Route 88) over the present Point Pleasant Canal in Point Pleasant Borough. During the construction of the roadway’s permanent bridge at that location, it is not clear that the temporary bridge was ever actually utilized, possibly due to delays in the construction of the canal that made such a crossing unnecessary.
- The movable component of the present bridge was transferred by the NJ State Highway Department to Monmouth County in 1925. The County also received the original plans for the structure and ordered that supplemental plans be drawn up for the installation of the bridge in its current location. The bridge was not installed, however, and the structure was stockpiled by the county.
- The County, with plans again provided by the NJ State Highway Department, installed the movable component of Bridge W-9 in its current location in 1938.
- Major bridge reconstruction was performed in 1959 which included reducing the bridge length to 279’.
- Various repairs, rehabilitation, and maintenance work performed between 1959 to 2014.
- In 2014, after a timber approach deck failure from an over-weight truck crossing, interim repairs were performed to the timber approach spans and piles.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
- Architecturally significant as a representative example of a little-used technology developed in the 1890s.
- Technologically and historically significant as the only example of its type in New Jersey and exemplifies advances made in movable bridge technology in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries for the transportation of vehicles over navigable waterways.
- Continues to operate as originally constructed and retains the basic technologies developed in the 1890s, therefore retaining its integrity of design.
LISTING ON NEW JERSEY AND NATIONAL REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES:
- Bridge W-9 first identified as a significant cultural resource in the Monmouth County Historic Sites Inventory (1984)
- Bridge W-9 found to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historical Places in the NJDOT’s New Jersey Historic Bridge Survey (1994)
- This conclusion was concurred with by the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office (NJSHPO) – Bridge W-9 received a State Historic Preservation Officer Opinion of Eligibility (June 30, 1995)
- Cultural resources survey completed for the current project notes the identification of the Bridge W-9 in the two above surveys and the resulting State Historic Preservation Officer Opinion of Eligibility – it was also concluded that Bridges W-7 and W-8 were ineligible and that there were no other eligible cultural resources within the project area (2004)
- NJSHPO issued a second State Historic Preservation Officer Opinion of Eligibility for Bridge W-9 and concurred with the findings that there were no other eligible cultural resources within the project area (July 15, 2004)
- National Register of Historic Places Registration form completed for Bridge W-9 (2007)
- Bridge W-9 was listed on new Jersey Register of Historic Places (February 28, 2008) and on the National Register of Historic Places (April 25, 2008)