Beesley's Point Bridge

Coordinates: 39°17′33.9″N 74°37′33.8″W / 39.292750°N 74.626056°W

Beesley's Point Bridge

A two lane road on a low bridge over a large body of water with a higher span seen to the right

The Beesley's Point Bridge heading north
Carries 2 lanes of US 9
Crosses Great Egg Harbor Bay
Maintained by Cape May County Bridge Commission
Characteristics
Design Causeway
Total length 4,800 ft (1,500 m)
History
Opened 1928
Closed June 18, 2004
The old alignment of the Garden State Parkway at the Beesley's Point Bridge heading southbound. Notice the white center line (instead of yellow).
The old alignment where it meets US 9

The Beesley's Point Bridge was a bridge in New Jersey, United States, that was built privately by the Ocean City Automobile Club in 1927. Completed in 1928, control of the bridge was acquired by the Beesley's Point Bridge Company. It was a toll bridge from its opening. Prior to its closing, it was best known for carrying US 9 over the Great Egg Harbor Bay, connecting Upper Township, in Cape May County to Somers Point in Atlantic County. Prior to 1955, the bridge concurrently carried the Garden State Parkway over the Great Egg Harbor Bay. When the Parkway completed its own bridge over the bay, each had its own alignment with the Garden State Parkway using the Great Egg Harbor Bridge.[1]

Through the decades, the Beesley's Point Bridge Company became unable to fund repairs on the aging bridge. In 1997, the bridge in conjunction with private outside investors, secured a $1 million loan from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to fund the necessary improvements in exchange for a promise that they would continue to keep the bridge open until 2016.[2]

In 2004, the owners of the bridge broke that promise realizing that the repairs would cost many times more than the original estimate. As a result, the Company agreed to close the bridge and it closed to traffic on June 18, 2004. Route 9 was subsequently rerouted over the Great Egg Harbor Bridge.

Design

The bridge carried two lanes of traffic for approximately 4,800 feet. The structure immediately north over the Drag Channel is a separate structure and is commonly referred to incorrectly as the same structure resulting in an erroneous 6,000 foot total length.

The bridge contains 120 spans and has an 80 foot double leaf bascule span that opens for maritime traffic. The official NJDOT Historic Bridge Survey states that the substructure has been heavily reconstructed.[3] The bascule span received modern controls and electrical systems during the rehabilitation. Access to the mechanical rooms were denied for the final bridge inspection, but topside inspection reveals that the bascule appears heavily altered and thus is not eligible for historic preservation.

Final years

In 2006, Hurricane Ernesto made Cape May County officials nervous because they lacked the use of the bridge as an additional evacuation route. As a result, Cape May County purchased the bridge from the Beesley's Point Bridge Company for $1 with the intent of rehabiliating it and opening it in 2012.[4] Several studies have been commissioned for the feasibility of doing so, but Cape May County engineers can only conclude that significant rehabilitation would only produce an extended life of up to 15 years. Costs vary on the price of rehabilitation, but it appears that only a 15 year realization on the investment is not worth the cost.

However, the NJDOT planned to fund a project to rehabiliate the bridge to at least 2019 in their Statewide Transportation Program 2011-2019. Ironically, the funding is level for all 10 years and "Beesley's" is misspelled in the document.[5]

Cape May County officials, including Democrat Jeff Van Drew, have gone on record that bridge rehabilitation would begin in the summer of 2010 and the bridge would reopen to traffic in 2012. On June 28, 2010 the Press of Atlantic City published an article revealing a previous crack in the existing deck had turned into a three foot chasm.[6]

At the 7th Annual Cape May County Transportation Infrastructure Conference on Tuesday February 22, 2011, it was announced that the bridge would be demolished but discussions were in the preliminary mode. The bridge may be turned into a fishing pier. Demolition of the bridge began in July 2013 in conjunction with a project that will also replace the Great Egg Harbor Bridge.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Cape May County NJ takes over private Beesley's Point Bridge". Toll Roads News. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ NEW JERSEY HISTORIC BRIDGE DATA
  4. ↑ Campbell, Al. "For $1, County Owns Beesley's Point Bridge". Cape May County Herald. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  5. ↑ FY 2010 - 2019 STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
  6. ↑ "Gaping hole in Beesleys Point Bridge further divides Somers Point, Upper Township, even on foot". 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  7. ↑ Degener, Richard (February 29, 2012). "Anti-terrorism fence near parkway bridge between Atlantic, Cape May counties coming down in 2013". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved February 29, 2012.

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