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A Bridge To Nowhere

TRENTON-Over the past five years, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority has spent $310 million from its maintenance reserve fund on bridge repairs and resurfacing.

By Alyson Grala | Updated on April 26, 2010

TRENTON-Workers rushed to fix bridge failures on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway nearly a dozen times in the past six months–the consequences of old age, salt and weather corrosion, and the constant pounding of traffic, officials told theBergen Record.

“We are earnestly trying to keep up with bridge repairs. We watch the decks and you can see if the concrete is deteriorated,” said Rich Raczynski, chief engineer for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates both toll roads. “The turnpike is almost 60 years old now and the parkway is almost 60 years old as well,” he said. “A lot of these bridge decks have reached their useful life. We try to keep up with repairs, but sometimes they get to a point where they have to be replaced.”

According to the Record, there are 554 bridges on the turnpike and 487 on the parkway. All are inspected every two years and are safe, said Raczynski, but the need for emergency repairs grows as bridges age. Over the past five years, the Turnpike Authority has spent $310 million from its maintenance reserve fund on bridge repairs and resurfacing and $275 million from the capital fund on bridge redecking.

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