Photo by Dale Gerhard
The skeletal Route 52 causeway has started to resemble a highway overpass, with its miles of structural concrete and sleek, uninterrupted lines.
But once completed, it will be a “ribbon in the sky,” says the Mercer County company that designed it, Michael Baker Jr. Inc., of Hamilton Township.
Aesthetic details are coming to life in the second stage of construction on the $400 million causeway, the state’s largest transportation project and one of the most ambitious ever in southern New Jersey. Twin two-lane spans will replace the four low bridges that made up the old causeway connecting Ocean City and Somers Point.
The new causeway, to be completed in late 2012, will replace two drawbridges with tall, fixed spans 55 feet over the water.
To appreciate its massive scope, consider its materials: 8,000 tons of rebar, 300 million tons of concrete, 47 miles of electric cable and — if laid end to end — enough structural piling to stretch from Ocean City to Cape May.
“It changes the whole view of the bay crossing. The bridge will have some nice lines to it, arcing high into the air to get over the navigable channels,” said Daniel Lord, the resident engineer and consultant for the state Department of Transportation.
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