A bridge on the New Jersey coast reopened overnight after being closed for three days.
The Middle Thorofare Bridge in Lower Township, New Jersey, reopened to car, pedestrian and bicycle traffic at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21. The bridge, which connects Diamond Beach in Lower Township to Cape May, had been closed Aug. 18 due to a total failure of the driveshaft motor used to open the bridge when needed, officials said.
Bridge Commission staff and Cape May County officials then acquired a new driveshaft motor and crews worked to repair the bridge’s driveshaft motor system until it was fully operational.
“On behalf of the Cape May County Board of Supervisors, I would like to extend my warmest and most sincere thanks to our public works department, bridge commission staff and consulting electrical engineers for their efforts to procure a new motor and for their many hours to repair the system that resulted in the reopening of the Middle Thorofare Bridge,” said Leonard Desiderio, bridge commission director and liaison. “Under the leadership of our county administrator and bridge commission director Kevin Lare, we took a best-case scenario of several weeks of closure and made a miracle happen. With that in mind, the dedication and commitment of our county team to return the bridge to full operation is truly commendable.”
