The Beesley's Point Bridge was a bridge in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, that was built privately by the Ocean City Automobile Club in 1927. Completed in 1928, control of the bridge was acquired by the Beesley's Point Bridge Company. It was a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

from its opening. Prior to its closing, it was best known for carrying U.S. Route 9 (US 9) over the

Great Egg Harbor Bay Great Egg Harbor Bay (or Great Egg Harbor) is a bay between Atlantic and Cape May counties along the southern New Jersey coast. The name derives from Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen May's description of the plentiful birds laying eggs, naming th ...

, connecting Upper Township, in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are f ...

to Somers Point in

Atlantic County Atlantic County is a County (United States), county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.

. The bridge concurrently carried the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jerse ...

over the Great Egg Harbor Bay from the Parkway's opening in 1954 until a separate bridge over the bay for the Parkway, the Great Egg Harbor Bridge, opened in 1955. Through the decades, the Beesley's Point Bridge Company became unable to fund repairs on the aging bridge. In 1997, the bridge company, in conjunction with private outside investors, secured a $1 million loan from the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transporta ...

to fund the necessary improvements in exchange for a promise that they would continue to keep the bridge open until 2016. In 2004, the owners of the bridge broke that promise realizing that the repairs would cost many times more than the original estimate. As a result, the Company agreed to close the bridge and it closed to traffic on June 18, 2004. US 9 was subsequently rerouted over the Great Egg Harbor Bridge.

History

In 1928, the Ocean City Automobile Club financed the construction of the Beesley's Point Bridge, connecting Somers Point to Beesley's Point via the Great Egg Harbor Bay. Beesleys Point Bridge remnants

In 2006, Hurricane Ernesto made

officials nervous because they lacked the use of the bridge as an additional evacuation route. As a result, Cape May County purchased the bridge from the Beesley's Point Bridge Company for $1 with the intent of rehabilitating it and opening it in 2012. Several studies have been commissioned for the feasibility of doing so, but Cape May County engineers can only conclude that significant rehabilitation would only produce an extended life of up to 15 years. Costs vary on the price of rehabilitation, but it appears that only a 15-year realization on the investment is not worth the cost. The NJDOT planned to fund a project to rehabilitate the bridge to at least 2019 in their Statewide Transportation Program 2011-2019. Cape May County officials, including

Jeff Van Drew Jefferson H. Van Drew (born February 23, 1953) is an American politician and dentist serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district since 2019. Formerly a Democrat, he has been a member of the Republican Party s ...

, stated that bridge rehabilitation would begin in mid-2010 and the bridge would reopen to traffic in 2012. On June 28, 2010 the

Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

published an article revealing a previous crack in the existing deck had turned into a three-foot chasm. At the 7th Annual Cape May County Transportation Infrastructure Conference on February 22, 2011, it was announced that the bridge would be demolished but discussions were in the preliminary mode. Demolition of the bridge began in July 2013 in conjunction with a project that also replaced the Great Egg Harbor Bridge. On September 7, 2016 the toll bridge section caught fire. The last section of the bridge was demolished on November 18, 2016.

Design

The bridge carried two lanes of traffic for approximately . The structure immediately north over the Drag Channel was a separate structure and is commonly referred to incorrectly as the same structure resulting in an erroneous total length. The bridge contained 120 spans and had an double leaf bascule span that opened for maritime traffic. The official NJDOT Historic Bridge Survey states that the substructure had been heavily reconstructed.NEW JERSEY HISTORIC BRIDGE DATA
/ref> The bascule span received modern controls and electrical systems during the rehabilitation. Access to the mechanical rooms were denied for the final bridge inspection, but topside inspection revealed that the bascule appears heavily altered and thus is not eligible for historic preservation.

References

External links

Channel 6 Action News report on Beesley's Point Bridge - Great Egg Harbor, New JerseyBeesley's Point Bridge - Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey
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