Bridge commission awards $56.5 million contract

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission recently approved a $56.5 million construction contract to modernize and improve the maintenance and operations capabilities in the agency’s southern service region over the next three years.
The project involves three Bucks County locations: a 6 acre tract in the Langhorne section of Middletown Township; the agency’s aging maintenance/administration building site in Morrisville; and the New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge maintenance yard in Solebury Township.
The project would improve the maintenance, security, toll collection, salt storage and fueling installations that serve the nine southern region bridges – between the Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1) Toll Bridge to the south and the Lumberville-Raven Rock Pedestrian Bridge to the north.
The first two facets of the contract expected to get underway would be the construction of a centralized demarcation building for utility service lines and the installation of temporary trailers for toll-collection staff near the former administration building in Morrisville; and the construction of a new 7,000-square-foot, 5,000-ton salt-storage facility in Langhorne. Preparatory work at these locations could begin later this summer.
The commission awarded the multi-year construction contract to Bracy Construction Inc. of Allentown, for up to $56,535,181. The action took place at the commission’s June 28 meeting.
The property adjacent to Route 1 on the Pennsylvania side of the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge would be reconfigured through various stages of demolition and construction. Preparatory work is expected to begin sometime in August.
The work includes creation of a one-story demarcation building that would centralize the location’s various utility service lines. A network of trailers would be installed on the site to for toll-collection personnel to use while the site undergoes demolition and construction.
The contractor could begin razing the commission’s aging four-story Morrisville administration building in late winter. The building has been virtually mothballed since the transferal of its administrative staff to the new office building on the Lower Makefield side of the Scudder Falls (I-295) Toll Bridge in 2019.
A new two-story, 16,120-square-foot operations building would house toll collection staff and security personnel.

The contractor also would begin demolition of the Morrisville location’s maintenance building and garages. A new maintenance building at Morrisville would have 8,910 square feet of space for storing maintenance vehicles and equipment. The structure also would house a sign shop, a wood shop, locker room, and other support facilities. This building is expected to be the last one constructed under the contract, opening for use sometime in summer 2024.
The first stage of work occurred last year under a $3.3 million contract that paid for the construction of a larger, more environmentally sound salt-storage building. The new 1,750-square-foot salt storage building is large enough to handle 500 tons of salt.
The commission in 2019 purchased four adjoining parcels totaling 6 acres for purposes of creating a new facility that will serve as the base of maintenance operations for the southern region – all of which lies in Bucks County and portions of Mercer and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.
The new maintenance center would primarily handle the routine maintenance needs of the dual-span Scudder Falls Bridge and the nearby administration building in Lower Makefield.
Under the recently awarded contract, the first facilities to be constructed at the Langhorne site would be a 7,000-square-foot, 5,000-ton salt storage building, a fueling island, and a de-icing area.
The next stage of work at Langhorne would be construction of a 44,347-square-foot building with a partial second story. This building would have substantial garage space for vehicles and equipment, a repair shop, a vehicle wash bay, welding and office areas, lockers and showers, and a kitchen/lunchroom.
The commission’s property on the Pennsylvania side of the New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge is the base of maintenance operations for that highway bridge; the nearby two-lane truss bridges at Washington Crossing, New Hope-Lambertville, and Centre Bridge-Stockton; and the pedestrian-only suspension bridge at Lumberville-Raven Rock.
A new fuel-dispensing island and fuel-management system will be installed at the New Hope location. Work on the facility would begin this year and is slated to be completed in early 2022.

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