Extreme Heat Breaks Records, Roads, Power Grids, Bridges Across NJ

The extreme heat in New Jersey is leaving its mark on more than just the thermometer, damaging highways and power grids with temperatures reaching 103 degrees in some areas of the state.

As of Wednesday morning, crews in Morris County are still working to repair I-287 southbound in two locations after the roadway buckled on Tuesday due to the expansion of bridge joints. The right lane at mile marker 52.6 in Riverdale, and the left and center lanes at mile marker 49.3 in Montville are all closed.

According to CBS New York, all southbound lanes in the area were closed for an hour and a half on Tuesday. Images from Chopper 2 show the damage along the roadway.

Repairs are still underway, and officials said that it is unclear when they will be complete.

A pair of drawbridges were also hit with the effects of the heat on Tuesday. Drivers were at a standstill as the Morgan Drawbridge in Sayreville, and Oceanport Drawbridge in Oceanport both were stuck open in the afternoon.

According to NJ Advance Media, parts of the NJ TRANSIT Coast Line rail service were suspended for two hours before resuming with 30-minute delays.

Suyun Paul Ham, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, said that rails and roadways warp and crack in the heat due to their design, the materials they are made out of, the climate when they were built and the weather during their lifetime all affecting their life span. Additional damage and improper repairs done along the way can also accelerate the process.

Power Outages

Nearly 6,200 customers are without power across the Garden State Wednesday morning amidst New Jersey's first heat wave of the year.

The widespread disruptions in service continue into their third consecutive day, as the regional grid operator Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland Interconnection (PJM) keeps getting put under high stress. PJM says they anticipate points this week to reach the most stress their grid has been under on any given day since 2013, according to the Today Show. The PJM runs the grid used by New Jersey and 12 other states, along with the District of Columbia.

Here is the latest outage breakdown across four of the state's major electric distribution companies:

Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G): 4,106
Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L): 2,018
Atlantic City Electric (ACE): 29
Rockland Electric Company (RECO): 2

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