The Cape May County Bridge Commission is working on a temporary solution to reopen the Middle Thorofare Bridge, which connects Cape May to Wildwood Crest and Diamond Beach, with potential for traffic to resume in the coming weeks. An engine failure on Saturday caused the drawbridge to become stuck in the upright position, resulting in an indefinite closure with significant disruption.
The county’s preliminary plan calls for installing an auxiliary motor to keep the bridge operational in the short term while a special replacement for the main motor is custom-built.
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Bridge Commission Executive Director Kevin Lare said Tuesday the auxiliary motor could be installed within a week at the earliest, but it could take up to a month.
With the auxiliary motor, opening and closing the Middle Thorofare Bridge, also known as the Two Mile Bridge, will take about 10 to 12 minutes instead of two to three minutes, according to Lare. Replacing the primary drive shaft motor, which opens and closes the drawbridge more efficiently, is expected to take about six months.
The bridge will remain temporarily upright to allow commercial and recreational vessels to pass through the harbor. It is currently closed to all vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists. Visitors entering and exiting Wildwood Crest may use the George Redding Bridge in Wildwood, the Grassy Sound Bridge in Middle Township and other alternate routes. All businesses on both sides of the Two Mile Bridge will remain open.
An estimated 560,000 cars will cross the Middle Thorofare Bridge in 2023, making it a critical transportation link during peak summer travel months, Cape May County officials said. When the bridge is open, it will also provide boats with access to New Jersey’s largest commercial fishing port.
Cape May-based Lund’s Fisheries said Monday the company was grateful the drawbridge remained open during repairs. Electrical engineers conducted several tests on the bridge Saturday morning before determining it was “inoperable and beyond repair.”
“The port would have lost millions of dollars in landings as we would have been forced to divert our vessels elsewhere,” Wayne Reichle, president of the Lund Fisheries Authority, said in an email.
The toll drawbridge connecting Wildwood Crest to the Garden State Parkway was built in 1939 with a 23-foot clearance. The county is developing plans for a long-term bridge replacement. The Two Mile Bridge is one of five toll bridges in the county built around the same time that need replacing due to its age.
The proposed replacement of the Middle Thorofare Bridge is a fixed bridge with a clearance of 80 feet, eliminating the need for frequent drawbridge operations to allow ships to pass through. The estimated cost of replacing the bridge is between $238 million and $243 million, a sum that could potentially require state and federal funds.
