Middle Thorofare Bridge at the Jersey Shore reopens after repairs

A Jersey Shore bridge reopened overnight after being closed for three days.

The Middle Thorofare Bridge in Lower Township, New Jersey, reopened to vehicular, pedestrian and bike traffic at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21. The bridge, which connects Lower Township’s Diamond Beach to Cape May, had been closed on Aug. 18 due to a total failure of the drive shaft motor that is used to open the bridge on demand, officials said.

Bridge Commission staff members and Cape May County officials then sourced a new drive-shaft motor and crews worked to repair the bridge’s drive-shaft motor system until it was fully operational.

“On behalf of the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners, I want to extend my heartfelt and sincere thanks to our County public works, bridge commission staff, and consultant electrical engineers for their efforts to source a new motor and for working long hours to repair the system that resulted in the reopening of the Middle Thorofare Bridge,” Commissioner Director/Liaison to the Bridge Commission, Leonard Desiderio said. “Under the leadership of our County Administrator and Bridge Commission Director Kevin Lare, we took a best-case multi-week closure scenario and made a miracle happen. With that said, the dedication and commitment of our County team to restore the bridge to full functionality is truly commendable.”