Update on Lambertville-New Hope Bridge

On July 6, 2006, The Hunterdon Democrat reported on an engineer’s inspection of the Lambertville–New Hope bridge. The lowest visible portion of the bridge deck of the Lambertville–New Hope Bridge suffered some minor damage in the form of “slight denting.” None of the piers were damaged. The bridge passed weight–bearing load tests. Repairs will be necessary, and the Hunterdon Democrat is reporting that the engineers are saying that bridge is safe for vehicular traffic.

The assumption being that this was the result of damage from floating debris. This bridge, like the other crossings, were inspected prior to reopening to be sure that both the bridge and the roads were safe to reopen. The Hunterdon Democrat did make two interesting points in regards to the Lambertville–New Hope Bridge. One is that Emergency responders are encouraged to use the toll bridge (a couple of miles north) when possible. The second point is that guards are on duty 24 hours a day to enforce weight limits.

This bridge is known by locals as “the free bridge” when compared to the toll bridge where U.S. Highway 202 crosses the Delaware River about two miles north of the free bridge. For those of you who are not familiar with these two rivertowns, the free bridge connects the shopping/restaurant districts of Lambertville, NJ and New Hope, PA. Any longer–term closing of the free bridge has the potential to severely impact businesses in both towns.

I was interested in the fact the Hunterdon Democrat made a point of saying that guards are on duty 24 hours to enforce weight limits. Is this the normal course of operations for the bridge? I can only hope so. Weight limits should be enforced at all times, not just after a flood when the bridge sustained some minor damage.

I am sure that the Hunterdon Democrat will report on the status of these repairs if they are deemed newsworthy. This should be easy for me to do because I get the Hunterdon Democrat delivered to my home. I will monitor the local press over the coming weeks and months and report back here if anything interesting happens.