Route 70 over Manasquan River Bridge Replacement Project September 11 Memorial Bridge

Township of Brick and Borough of Point Pleasant, Ocean County; Township of Wall and Borough of Brielle, Monmouth County, N.J.

In 2001, it was decided that the time had come to think about replacing the Route 70 Manaquan River Bridge. The original bridge had become structurally deficient and functionally obsolete since its original construction in 1936. Following an increase in both vertical under-clearance bridge height and navigation-channel width—both decisions resulting from a navigation survey—and the results of an environmental impact study, the use of steel girders for the new bridge was effectively ruled out. Limiting construction to only six months out of the year, migration and spawning runs of fish species also created a major design hurdle. Additionally, in 2004, the structure was designated a September 11 Memorial Bridge, which expanded the scope to include enhanced architectural features, monuments, and signage. With all these great demands of the new bridge, the engineers chose to use precast concrete to meet their needs. This included nearly everything from the high-performance concrete bulb-tee girders and pier columns and caps to the use of architecturally treated precast concrete cofferdam shells. The use of precast concrete did more than just meet the requirements of the new bridge—it eliminated the need for traditional cofferdams, minimized riverbed disturbances, and facilitated the construction of a high-quality signature bridge that was completed 25 months ahead of schedule.

Precaster: Northeast Prestressed Products, LLC, Cressona, PA
Website: www.nppbeams.com

Engineer of record: Arora and Associates P.C., Lawrenceville, N.J.
Website: www.arorapc.com

Deck area: 2883.4 ft²
Bridge length: 724 ft
Bridge longest span: 120 ft
Bridge width: 94 ft 8 in.
Precast concrete components:
10 high-performance precast concrete cofferdams
72 pretensioned prestressed concrete girders
506 yd³ of precast concrete in substructures
4 mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls
2 noise walls