Residents of Avalon‘s north-end and Sea Isle City’s south-end gaze wistfully at the closed Townsend’s Inlet Bridge, all most care to know is “When will the Ocean Drive bridge reopen to traffic?” Quick answer: Memorial Day Weekend.
The span that links the borough to the city was closed after a diver, inspecting the pilings that have lifted the bridge since its 1939 construction, saw a crack. The bridge was immediately closed to vehicular traffic but remains open to bicyclists and pedestrians. The cracked piling was found in Pier 6, the sixth one north of Avalon.
Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster said “It’s a challenge” as he noted that the underwater excavation was taking place in 50 feet of sometimes rapidly moving tidal water. A diver is daily inspecting the bay and ocean ends of the supporting pier. The bay end is the critical one that caused the bridge closure. Such jobs are largely contingent upon weather and tides. Foster noted the fact that a new moon was to occur April 26, and said that would indicate slack tides in its wake. That was good news for the project. Once those tons of stones were removed, the next engineering feat would be the installation of three 150-foot pilings. Those three pilings required a 50-foot section to be welded onto a 100-foot section that was to be lifted into place. That welding process alone would take about four hours.