New Jersey

Friday Morning Drivers Wait Hours to Cross Delaware Memorial Bridge After Concrete Pour Delay

An overnight concrete pour lasts into the Friday morning commute causing major delays leading up to the Delaware Memorial Bridge

What to Know

  • An overnight concrete pour lasts into the Friday morning commute causing major delays leading up to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
  • The delay on the New Jersey Turnpike ballooned to more than two hours before the bridge reopened.
  • The DRBA recognized the inconvenience the delays caused for drivers and apologized for the slow Friday commute.

A bridge popular with weekend vacationers crossing between New Jersey and Delaware slowed to near halt Friday morning as drivers had to wait for concrete to dry.

An overnight construction project on the Delaware Memorial Bridge caused three lanes heading from Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike toward Interstate 95 in Delaware to be closed into the Friday morning rush.

The Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates the bridge, said an overnight concrete pour had yet to set, the bridge Twitter account said.

Typically the pour wouldn't have gone past the morning rush, DRBA spokesman Jim Salmon told NBC10.

"Unfortunately, our contractors experienced unforeseen field conditions (repair depth for the section of concrete was significantly deeper than pre-work estimate) while removing the bad concrete areas," he said. "As a result, the cure time for the concrete to reach minimum strength to support traffic was also affected."

Waze reported that drive times from the southern end of the New Jersey Turnpike to Delaware ballooned to more than two hours before the roadway finally reopened around 9 a.m.

The DRBA warned drivers to expect significant delays as the traffic jam takes a while to clear.

Salmon said the DRBA recognized the inconvenience the delays caused for drivers and apologized for the slow commute.

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