27 Apr ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF HOOVER AVENUE BRIDGE REPLACEMENT IN BLOOMFIELD
Published on April 27, 2017
Bloomfield, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced on Thursday, April 27th that the replacement of the Hoover Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield was completed. This is part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to modernize infrastructure so that roads, bridges and intersections meet changing demands and provide safe conditions for pedestrians and motorists.
“The Hoover Avenue Bridge is situated in a busy area off of Broad Street in Bloomfield’s North Center Business District and adjacent to Brookside Park. It is vital to the success of the business community and the public’s enjoyment of the park,” DiVincenzo said. ““Replacing the bridge created a temporary inconvenience to our residents and motorists, but properly maintaining our infrastructure is important to improving our quality of life and providing safe conditions on our roads,” he added.
“On behalf of the Board of Freeholders, we support these types of projects because maintaining our infrastructure is very important. There is an inconvenience to the community, but making sure our bridges and roads are up to date is necessary,” Freeholder Len Luciano said.
“Thank you to the County Executive and the Freeholders for the attention they give to the infrastructure and parks in Bloomfield. This project came out great,” Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia said.
“The residents in the area, especially the seniors from Kinder Towers, really appreciate the bridge being reopened because it provides them with easy access across the Third River to Broad Street. It’s a major relief,” Bloomfield Councilman Nick Joanow said.
The original 20-foot long, single-span structure that crossed over the Third River in Bloomfield was constructed in 1908 and was declared to be structurally deficient the last time it was inspected. During the project, the entire bridge was removed and replaced with a precast arch structure supported by cast-in-place footings. The new bridge also has precast concrete headwalls, parapets and wingwalls. The roadway surface has room for two lanes of one-way traffic and an 8-foot, 4-inch sidewalks on either side. The bridge’s façade was constructed using stones from the original structure.
Boswell Engineering from South Hackensack received a $239,980 contract to design the new bridge and provide on-site inspection services while construction was being conducted. Colonnelli Brothers from Hackensack was awarded a publicly bid contract for $744,006 to perform the construction work. Funding was provided through the NJ Department of Transportation’s Local Bridges Future Needs Grant Program. The project started May 3, 2016 and was stopped on July 8th when most of the state’s transportation programs were shut down. It resumed on October 31, 2016 when the work stoppage ended.
Another bridge improvement project being conducted by Essex County in Bloomfield is the replacement of the Berkeley Avenue Bridge. This $5.7 million project was started in January 2016 and is scheduled to be completed in 2017. Other transportation infrastructure projects undertaken by Essex County in Bloomfield are the reconstruction of the West Street Bridge in 2009 and the Baldwin Street Bridge in 2005; upgrades at the intersection of Belleville Avenue and JFK Drive and Belleville Avenue and Spruce Street in 2012 and East Passaic Avenue/JFK Drive and Hoover Avenue in 2007; and planting 110 trees along Hoover Avenue and Broad Street in 2010.