Milton Avenue Bridge Replacement
Rahway, New Jersey
The old East Milton Avenue Bridge over the Rahway River in downtown Rahway, built in the 1950s, was a steel-stringer, four-span bridge that required immediate replacement due to severe corrosion. The County of Union called on Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor (PS&S) to do the job.
Concrete framing was the primary choice by PS&S structural engineers due to its inherent long-term durability. The replacement bridge was designed to be a two-span, two-lane pre-cast pre-stressed concrete-box-beam bridge with spans about 90 feet each and a total width, including sidewalks, of about 52 feet. The box beams are 39 inches deep with a variable depth latex modified concrete topping. The concrete parapets are patterned concrete formed with form liners to have a stone appearance consistent with the architecture of the surrounding area.
New concrete abutments and wing walls were constructed at each riverbank, replacing the original stone masonry abutments.
The existing circular foundation, which had been the base of the swing bridge that pre-dated the steel-framed bridge, was utilized to support a new cast-in-place concrete girder that cantilevered on each side to provide support for the box beams over the width of the bridge.
Since this portion of the Rahway River is subject to extreme flooding, the profile of the bridge was reduced as much as possible. This was achieved through the use of pre-cast pre-stressed concrete-box beams. Their use allowed two intermediate piers and the resultant longer spans were easily handled with the shallow depth box beams. Additionally, special box beam sections were used to allow the passage of utility piping within the depth of the bridge, further reducing river obstructions in flood stage.
PS&S received the annual state-wide Merit Award for Short-span Bridges from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Concrete Institute and the New Jersey Concrete and Aggregate Association for its outstanding design of the replacement East Milton Avenue Bridge.