Old Route 33 is an approximately 40-ft wide two-lane roadway, which is supported by a bridge as the roadway passes over the Millstone River. The existing Old Route 33 bridge was originally constructed as a Monmouth County facility in 1915, it was widened as part of the Route 7 freeway project in 1926 and remained part of the re-designated Route 33 (1953) freeway until the dualization of Route 33 in 1968. As a result of the “Serious” condition rating of the deck, and the “Poor” condition of the superstructure and substructure, the bridge has been classified as Structurally Deficient.
The bridge had a Sufficiency Rating of 48.0, and Bridge Management Systems (BMS) ranking of 3. Therefore, it was identified by the BMS as being in need of replacement. The purpose of this project was to address its existing deficiencies and remove it from the structurally deficient category. The existing Old Route 33 roadway was also found to have deficiencies that warranted correcting while the bridge replacement was being completed.
The improvements comprised of replacing the structure with a single-span precast concrete culvert, 3-sided, with a 30-ft wide clear span, a curb-to-curb width of approximately 41-ft and will consist of two 12-ft wide travel lanes, for two-way traffic operation, two 8.5-ft wide shoulders along each side of the bridge.
To minimize the construction duration and reduce traffic, right of way, construction costs and environmental impacts, the bridge needed to be constructed in one stage.