Rt. 35 bridge girder snaps; old span hit

Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/30/02

By NAOMI MUELLER
STAFF WRITER

A 116-ton concrete beam snapped in two yesterday, damaging the Route 35 bridge over the Shark River and forcing the state Department of Transportation to halt most work on a new fixed-span bridge going up alongside it.

Officials said the 166-foot beam twisted horizontally, from a vertical position, as it was being hoisted by two cranes, and cracked from its own weight. Half of the beam landed in the water, while the other broke off part of the wall and sidewalk of the bridge.

Witnesses described the sound as akin to an explosion.

The top arm of one crane cracked and fell into the water.

There were no injuries resulting from the 10 a.m. accident, but it forced authorities to close the bridge to vehicular traffic for several hours.

The damage to the crane sent nearly 500 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the river. The fluid was contained and soaked up by the State Police and hazardous materials specialists, said Arthur Silber, the DOT's capital program manager, who was at the site when the accident occurred.

The bridge's southbound lanes heading toward Belmar were reopened about 1 p.m. The northbound lanes leading to the Neptune side remained closed for another two hours. Pedestrians were prohibited from crossing the bridge all day and last night while the sidewalk was repaired.

"I heard a loud boom and a crash, and then all these chunks of concrete and pebbles came flying up over four lanes of traffic," said Greg Ford, a painting contractor from Long Branch, who was headed southbound on the bridge when the beam crashed down. "I had a big 18-wheeler right next to me, and thank God I did, 'cause I think he took most of the hit from the debris."

Employees from Amec Civil, the contractor hired for the $46 million construction of the new bridge, refused yesterday to speak with police or DOT officials, saying they would conduct their own investigation into the accident's cause and report their findings within three days, said Micah Rasmussen, a DOT spokesman. A man who answered the telephone at the company's office in Fort Myers, Fla., said company officials were referring all inquiries to the state.

Upon learning about Amec officials' initial refusal to cooperate in the state's investigation, Rasmussen said Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox contacted company officials, who agreed to send two engineers to the site and then to have them meet with Fox today. "He's basically hauling them in and saying he wants some answers," Rasmussen said.

They will likely discuss what caused the accident, what safety measures can be implemented in the future and how the accident will affect the DOT's construction timetable, which calls for work on the bridge to be completed by 2004, Rasmussen said. Rasmussen said DOT officials are unsure whether the accident will significantly delay the project. The two crane operators, whose names were not available, voluntarily submitted to drug and alcohol tests at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune. The results of those tests were not made available to state officials yesterday, Rasmussen said. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is investigating the accident but as a policy does not comment about ongoing investigations, said OSHA spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson.

OSHA also is investigating the company for an April 19 accident in Clarksville, Va., in which a crane operator died after falling 13 feet. A preliminary report on the accident from OSHA said the company had been fined $8,050 for the lack of a guardrail or other safety mechanism on the crane and for not securing the 45-ton crane to a barge.

Rasmussen said he did not know whether Amec Civil held other state contracts. He also said he was unfamiliar with the April 19 accident.

Fishermen upset

Local fishing boat operators had already expressed their displeasure with the state's plan to go ahead with the work during the busy summer season, in part because the project was already a year behind schedule and $3 million over budget.

"They shouldn't be doing this right now . . . in the heat of the (fishing) season, for the safety of all, for the safety of our customers, for the safety of people working" on the bridge, said Capt. Len Forsyth of the Golden Eagle, a charter fishing boat.

Two weeks ago, state officials announced that because of construction delays, it would be necessary to close the river's southern channel under the existing drawbridge to boat traffic for some time. A compromise was reached to close the channel from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Thursday, for five weeks, beginning yesterday.

Despite the accident, boats that left Belmar Marina before the channel was closed yesterday morning were able to return on schedule.

After a bit of confusion -- having first been told to go through the channel by the boat tender and then chased out by the State Police -- Capt. Hank Koch got his charter boat, the Big Marie S II, through the channel shortly after 1 p.m.

Already annoyed by the partial bridge closure -- originally scheduled for last winter but begun yesterday because of the previous delays -- some mariners yesterday called for construction to be postponed until the end of the summer.

The concrete beam that broke yesterday was the first of 14 required for the project. While work to install those beams is halted until the DOT is satisfied that it is safe to continue, the channel will remain open to boat traffic around the clock, Rasmussen said. Amec employees will continue with other work, such as construction of the bridge foundation and the deck, he said.

Staff writers Todd B. Bates, Coleen Dee Berry and Jason Method contributed to this story.

Construction accident delays project

The State Department of Transportation has been working to replace an old drawbridge on Route 35 over the Shark River between Belmar and Neptune.

As workers were preparing to place the first of several long concrete crossbeams into place, something went wrong.

Every construction project has a worst case scenario, this time it became reality.

As workers were installing a crossbeam on the new Route 35 Shark River Bridge, the beam snapped in half.

Sgt. Harry Harsin, Belmar Police Dept., "Miraculously no one was hurt but there is some structural damage to the existing bridge."

On its way down though, the beam knocked a 10-foot chunk of walkway from the bridge that's being replaced, and a construction crane was destroyed. The sound shook the marina.

"I heard it went down and I was like 'damn' I hope they are not hurt."

The bridge was being built by Amex Construction of Fort Myers Florida, and it's not the first time they've run into trouble on this bridge.

Delivery delays and missed deadlines have pushed completion back almost a full year.

Now boat captains like Ralph Learner say this broken beam was the final straw.

Ralph Learner, boat captain, "We feel this is a great fiasco. They never should have allowed this bridge to be built by these idiots! They couldn't build an erector set!"

The big question is how did this happen. These beams are designed to be installed vertically. But somehow this beam tipped over onto its side. At that point it lost all of its strength and broke in two. This side came crashing down to the ground, taking the crane with it. This side was left sticking up out of the water resting on a support.

Kenneth Pringle, Belmar Mayor," They are dealing with very long lengths of beams, very heavy and an inherently dangerous job. That's why they couldn't do it at night."

State Transportation Department officials say work on the beams has been shut down until an investigation is conducted and a cause is determined.