Brick Life

Brick’s Midstreams Bridge Back Open in Both Directions

by
Daniel Nee
February 19, 2019

The Midstreams Bridge in Brick Township reopens to traffic, Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

It’s been a long 16 months, but the Midstreams Bridge, which carries Midstreams Road over Beaver Dam Creek in Brick, is back open in both directions.

The decades-old span has been replaced by a totally new bridge and officially opened to traffic Tuesday, Ocean County officials announced. The county’s contractor, Midlantic Construction, of Barnegat, striped the lanes in the morning allowing for the afternoon opening. Site work will continue in the surrounding area of the project until completion.

The Midstreams Bridge in Brick Township reopens to traffic, Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

“This new bridge will be a safe span for both motorists and pedestrians,” Freeholder Jack Kelly said.

The new Midstreams Bridge is a 111-foot long single span structure consisting of adjacent precast-prestressed concrete box beams, supported on full height reinforced concrete abutments, founded on cast-in-place steel pipe piles and concrete footings.

The width of the new structure is 49 feet and includes a 40-foot curb-to-curb cart way along with a 6-foot wide sidewalk on the west side. The project also included the installation of steel sheet bulkheading, a revised roadway profile and an upgraded guide rail.

The former Midstreams Bridge was built in 1962. The timber piles and timber bulkhead substructure showed signs of advanced deterioration while the existing concrete pile caps exhibited delamination and moderate section loss. Additionally, the bridge deck width was substandard given the increased traffic volumes. At the beginning of construction, the county’s contractor found that the bridge had effectively been supported by its own weight for years, which required some additional work (and additional detours) to be included in the replacement plan.

The Midstreams Bridge in Brick Township reopens to traffic, Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

“This new structure will serve our motorists and pedestrians for years to come,” Freeholder Director Virginia Haines said, adding that Ocean County owns and maintains 206 bridges throughout the county. Ocean County also operates the state’s largest single road network.