Calhoun Street Bridge Pier Repairs Underway

MORRISVILLE, PA. —Work continues this week on repairs to the Calhoun Street Bridge.

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission said that masonry repair work has resumed on the 140-year-old Calhoun Street Toll-Supported Bridge between Trenton, N.J., and Morrisville.

A commission contractor had been addressing instances of failing mortar and loose stones at the bridge’s piers last fall when cold weather set in, forcing postponement of the work’s completion before the end of last year, the DRJTBC said.

The bridge is the second of four commission river crossings that were determined to need masonry repairs as a result of biennial bridge inspections conducted earlier last year.

Work on the first bridge needing repairs —the Lumberville-Raven Rock Toll-Supported Pedestrian Bridge between Solebury, PA. and Delaware Township, N.J. —was completed in early October.

The remaining Calhoun Street Bridge pier repairs are expected to be completed by the end of April.

When completed, the repair crew will shift attention to the piers supporting the Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge and then the Riverton-Belvidere Toll-Supported Bridge.

Except for a single reinforced-concrete pier at Washington Crossing, the piers at all four bridges date back to the mid-19th century. Washington Crossing’s date to 1833-34, Riverton-Belvidere’s to 1835-36, Lumberville-Raven Rock’s to 1853-55, and Calhoun Street’s to 1859-60. The piers are rubble-filled with stone-filled timber-crib foundations.