Openaki Road Bridge Has Reopened -- Right on Schedule!

Published on August 01, 2018

Repairs Completed on One-Lane Span

Work has been completed to repair the busy Openaki Road Bridge in Denville, and the one-lane span that crosses the Den Brook at Openaki Lake, at the Randolph border, reopened today at about 2 p.m.

(JPG, 368KB) Repairs were made to the bridge over the past three days

The bridge was closed for three days to allow for repairs to a recently discovered structural flaw in the bridge deck. It was completed and reopened, as scheduled, today. But work crews will be back in 2020 when the bridge is scheduled to be fully replaced.

State bridge crews, during a routine inspection, discovered a flaw in the concrete deck on the bridge. Morris County officials moved swiftly to schedule repairs. While the bridge has been safe to use, that section of the bridge deck had to be fixed this week to prevent further deterioration.

(JPG, 390KB) A construction team, armed with shovels, fills in stone needed on the span

Openaki Road Bridge, a steel stringer structure, was built in 1924 and was rehabilitated in 1992. The 15.5-foot-wide, 54-footlong bridge carries an average of 4,600 vehicles daily. It is posted to carry 13 tons.

The recent inspection by the state Department of Transportation found that a portion of the deck slab was fractured and had settled, exposing the bridge's reinforcement steel.