Morris County to Replace Flanders-Drakestown Road Bridge in Mount Olive

Published on July 18, 2017

Project to Start in Early August

(JPG, 2MB) Flanders-Drakestown Road Bridge

The 117-year-old Flanders-Drakestown Road Bridge in Mount Olive will be replaced by Morris County in an expected four-month project set to start during the first week of August.

The bridge, built in 1900, has a daily traffic flow of about 950 vehicles.

There is extensive deterioration of the bridge's arches, with bulging, leaning, cracking and delamination (or failure of the composite materials) of the spandrel walls.

(JPG, 1MB) underside of Flanders-Drakestown Road Bridge

The span should be closed for 120 days, with construction scheduled for completion in November.

A detour will be installed on Wolfe Road and take traffic to Route 46, Naughright Road, Bartley-Drakestown Road, and to River Road.

A $1.5 million bid construction contract was awarded to Reivax Contracting of Newark. A $134,400 construction inspection contract was awarded to Dewberry Engineers of Bloomfield.

Flanders-Drakestown Road Bridge is a two span, stone masonry arch bridge. It is 34-feet long and 22.5-feet wide.

The new structure will be a two-span, precast concrete arch bridge, with cast-in-place approach slabs and 30 feet curb-to-curb width. The existing stone masonry and capstones will be reused on the new bridge.