Island Road Bridge over Rockaway Creek

Photos

3 supports 8

3 foot tall girders strapped to 8 foot tall pony truss.

Photo taken by Andrew Pearce in September 2012

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BH Photo #239593

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Description

from the 2002 survey: "The 8'-high 5-panel Pratt half hip pony truss bridge is pin connected. It is supported on concrete abutments with wingwalls. The bottom chord is stamped eye bars and the top chord and end posts are built-up box members. Diagonals are also stamped eye bars. The floor system is new and the bottom chord has been patched and reinforced. Plates have been welded to panel points, but the pins and hangers remain."

2012 physical observation: this bridge does not appear to be in the kind of degraded condition that would warrant such massive reinforcement. While 2 or 3 of the verticals are a bit beat up, the overall condition of the bridge appears to be quite decent. The earlier work done to the bridge - plate welds and an extra set of lower chords - would seem more than sufficient for this rarely used unpaved farmer's road, and would seem robust enough to support the newer 8x8 H beam floor beams (which are not nearly as large as some of the oversize floor beams put in on many other pony trusses in the area. Given that this is just about the tallest pony in the county, and one of the heaviest of the older generation, I am surprised both at the lightness of the newer floor beams and by the massive girders strapped on to strengthen this bridge.

Facts

Overview: Pratt pony truss bridge over Rockaway Creek on Island Road
Location: Whitehouse Station, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Status: Splint reinforced with pair of 36"x12" girders
History: splint reinforced in 2001
Design: Half-hip Pratt pony truss
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 68.9 ft.
Total length: 69.9 ft.
Deck width: 13.5 ft.
Also called: Rockaway Creek Bridge
Island Road Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +40.62337, -74.72090 (decimal degrees)
40°37'24" N, 74°43'15" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 18/523605/4496986 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Raritan
Average daily traffic (as of 2017): 97
Inventory numbers: 10XXR19
BH 25309 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of May 2017): Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 47.7 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Update Log

May 30, 2017: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
September 18, 2012: Updated by Andrew Pearce: added data and pictures
September 17, 2012: Updated by Andrew Pearce: this bridge may not be lost or even replaced with a new one. I'll have to go visit it.