Contract Awarded To Study Replacement Of Washington Crossing Bridge

MERCER COUNTY, NJ - The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has hired an international engineering firm to conduct a multi-year environmental review to help determine whether the 119-year-old Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge should be replaced.

Philadelphia-based HDR Engineering, Inc. was awarded an $8 million contract to carry out a process that will include preliminary engineering, environmental services, alternatives analysis, public involvement, documentation, and other services in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The Washington Crossing Bridge is a truss bridge spanning the Delaware River. It connects Washington Crossing, Hopewell Township in Mercer County with Washington Crossing, Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County, PA.

In awarding the contract, the commission said the goal of the process will be to improve mobility and provide a safe and reliable river crossing for vehicles and pedestrians while ensuring the continued viability of businesses near the current bridge.

“Today’s contract award is a step forward toward determining what approach the Commission should take with its aging, limited-capacity, safety-challenged Washington Crossing Bridge and its inherently poor customer-experience profile,” said DRJTBC Executive Director Joe Resta. “This environmental review will take years to complete. It’s a first step strictly limited to research and analysis. It does not authorize the hiring of a contractor and it certainly does not authorize design and construction of a new bridge.”

The current Washington Crossing Bridge has been a bane to generations of motorists, said Resta, noting that it is the "narrowest of the commission’s 18 vehicular bridges, with a 15-foot-wide roadway that can force motorists to a crawl in 7.5-foot-wide lanes - one in each direction."

Motorists have frequently reported instances of broken side view mirrors while crossing the bridge, the commission said. Also, in recent years, the commission said its public safety personnel have experienced an uptick of confrontational incidents with drivers of oversized vehicles attempting to cross the narrow, weight-restricted structure.

The commission said the oversized-vehicle problem has been an issue in both directions at the bridge – not just the Pennsylvania-bound direction, which is the toll direction at the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge 2-1/2 miles downstream. One of the most notable incidents happened in March 2023, when an Amazon tractor-trailer smashed into the bridge from the Pennsylvania side and became lodged beneath the bridge’s sign gantry. The collision forced an emergency morning rush closure and caused considerable damage to the bridge’s walkway and sign gantry.

The Commission has now reached the point where it believes a potential replacement of the bridge should be considered in addition to another rehabilitation or other possible alternatives that are “technically and economically feasible.” This examination of a possible new bridge and alternative approaches will be the crux of the NEPA-guided study and evaluation process of the next few years.

The bridge’s historically significant location — between two state parks and where George Washington led a war-changing military crossing during harsh early-winter conditions on December 25, 1776 – also will be weighed. The NEPA-process consultant is required to evaluate and develop context-sensitive solutions in consideration of “the existing bridge site, surrounding towns, historical parks, and other impacted resources.”

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