Stone Harbor's 96th Street Bridge Reopening To Traffic After Discovery Of Crack

STONE HARBOR, N.J. (CBS) -- The 96th Street Bridge in Stone Harbor was set to reopen to traffic on Tuesday night.

The bridge has been closed since October 28 because of a crack that was discovered in one of the main span girders. The bridge will also be able to open for boats traveling by the bridge.

Following the repairs, it was recommended that a 15 ton limit be set for the bridge and trucks and buses are being told to use Avalon Boulevard to access Stone Harbor.

The main span of the bridge consist of two movable leaves that open to allow for the passage of marine vessels. The bridge opens through the use of motors by pivoting about a bearing. The vertical crack in the girder occurred near this pivoting point. The crack was discovered by a County crew performing electrical maintenance on the main span on Friday, October 28, 2016.

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Bridge engineers and inspectors from Michael Baker International, Inc. of Hamilton, NJ were called to the bridge to investigate the crack and to develop a repair scheme to reopen the bridge to traffic. Baker is currently working under contract with NJ Department of Transportation on the biennial inspections of county-owned bridge in Cape May County.

Additional repairs are needed, but the bridge is expected to remain open to traffic. The work is expected to be completed before the start of the summer season.