Difficult logistics mean work could take 20 years

Overhauling three of New Jersey's oldest bridges will be not only expensive, but time-consuming - up to 20 years to finish the job.

That's because the spans can never be completely closed to traffic. Instead, stretches of lanes can be closed nightly while construction crews do their job, but they must be out of the way in time for the next morning's rush.

Of course, this is hardly new to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has spent $928.5 million at its Hudson River crossings in 15 years - all while some 181 million cars and trucks whiz by.

The projects began in April at the Bayonne Bridge, which opened Nov. 15, 1931, three weeks after the George Washington Bridge. Work will then move on to the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing. They opened on June 29, 1928.

The construction that has held the roadways, or decks, above the Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill waterways has lasted longer than their projected 40-50 year life spans.

At the Bayonne, the original deck has gotten two quick fixes since, but the traffic and years of exposure to moisture and de-icing materials have taken their toll. "Eventually (a simple rehabilitation) is not cost-effective because the salt and water get in the support steel, corroding and expanding it where there are cracks in the concrete," said Frank Gallo, manager of bridge projects.

Crews are in the process of replacing 60 percent of the nine-inch concrete deck. Price: $21.4 million.

The Bayonne was not scheduled for that extensive a repair, but contractor Shiavone Construction of Secaucus said it could do the job for just $1 million more than the Port Authority estimated for another patch job and $5 million less than it expected to pay for a replacement, Gallo said.

Savings are possible because the Port Authority could close two of the Bayonne's four lanes to permit around-the-clock construction. After similar work is completed on the Goethals in 2008, it will start on the Outerbridge in 2009. Each job will take six years to complete.

Even so, motorists can expect delays. With just one lane available for eastbound traffic, westbound motorists will have to find alternate routes.

Moreover, even when the work is finished, the Goethals will remain what Gallo called a functionally obsolete bridge, with no shoulders, lanes two feet narrower than today's traffic requires and an awkward merge on the eastbound approach ramp.