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Marlboro, Aberdeen Bridge Is Reopened
 | | From left: Freeholder Robert D. Clifton, Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg, Freeholder Director William C. Barham, Monmouth County Public Works and Engineering Director John Tobia, and County Engineer Joseph Ettore. |
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MONMOUTH COUNTY - The Monmouth Board of Chosen Freeholders joined officials in Aberdeen and Marlboro to dedicate a new bridge connecting the two townships at Ticetown Road and Wilson Avenue, over the Matawan Brook. The old span was closed in December and has been removed.
The bridge, sometimes referred to as the Wilson Avenue bridge, was originally built in 1910 and was rehabilitated in 1993. Work involved a road realignment, the removal of a timber deck span and the installation of a new single span, concrete deck with an overlay built on reinforced concrete abutments. In addition, the span's lanes are wider to accommodate shoulders and a six-foot-wide walkway.
"Residents who have endured a detour these last six months will welcome the reopening of this bridge, but I think they will agree the wait was well worth it," Freeholder Robert D. Clifton said. "This new bridge improves the safety of the roadway by reducing the severity of curve on the northeast approach to the bridge and adds a walkway on one side for pedestrians."
The new span costs $1.5 million and was built by Marbro Inc. of Montclair. With the widening of the span and the correction that was made to the northeast approach, the bridge has been brought into compliance with all current design standards, county engineer Joseph Ettore said.
"The bridge was deficient and
had to be improved," Ettore said. "Of the 980 county-owned bridges,
we still have about 100 of them that are considered deficient by today's design standards, which means they could have issues that range from weight restrictions to being too narrow. With the replacement of this bridge, we now have one less deficient bridge to contend with."
"Safety is our paramount concern," Freeholder director William C. Barham said. "I'm glad we were able to do these upgrades so that motorists will have a safer driving experience on this road."
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