South Middlebush Road commuters and residents, brace yourselves: The Six Mile Run bridge replacement is moving forward.
Work is expected to begin this summer, and will result in road closures and detours, a county official said.
The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders is advertising for bids for the project, which county engineers have estimated will cost about $865,000.
The bridge – which traverses the Six Mile Run, a tributary of the Millstone River – underwent emergency repairs last December, when a county DPW employee noticed that one of its parapets was damaged. That problem was fixed the same day.
The bridge replacement is unrelated to the December repairs, said county engineer Matthew Loper. The Freeholders last August accepted the plans for the project, and authorized the project to be put out to bid.
” Funding is now in place, so the county has advertised the project for bid and is intending on receiving bids on February 2,” Loper said.
According to the bid document, the work will entail:
- Implementation of a signed detour to divert traffic during construction;
- Maintenance of stream flow;
- Establishment of soil erosion and sediment control measures;
- Demolition and replacement of County Bridge H0403 with cast-in-place concrete footings, abutments and stone-veneered wing walls supporting a stress-laminated glulam timber superstructure;
- Coordination with utility companies for utility pole relocations and protection of an existing fiber optic line;
- Approach roadway work including installation of guide rail and drainage items;
- Removal of traffic detour and reopening roadway to traffic.
The project is expected to take three months to complete, and road closures will be involved. Detours will be marked out before work starts.
Township manager Robert Vornlocker told the Open Space Advisory Committee at its Jan. 17 meeting that the county would start the work in the summer, after school has ended for the year.