Morris Township's Whitehead Road to be Closed for Four Months Starting Monday

Published on October 23, 2020

Bridge Replacement Project Will Require Detours

Whitehead Road in Morris Township will be closed to through traffic for four months beginning Monday, Oct. 26, as work starts on replacing a bridge over the Whippany River.

(PNG, 9MB) Whitehead Road bridge

The Morris County-owned bridge, which was built in 1928 and widened in 1977, is a single-span, steel-beam structure with asphalt-filled corrugated decking founded on stone masonry abutments. The deck and steel beams have severe corrosion and the abutment has deteriorating masonry, prompting the need for its replacement.

Whitehead Road, a largely rustic street leading to a couple of suburban developments in the heart of the township's Washington Valley section, connects Mendham Road (Route 24) to Washington Valley Road. The existing bridge length is 25 feet, with a deck width of 21 feet. The replacement structure will be 25-feet-by-26-feet, and consist of a precast concrete rigid frame founded on cast-in-place concrete footings and pedestal.(PNG, 18MB)

The new structure will also include cast-in-place wing walls along with stone-facing, steel bridge railing, approach guiderail and asphalt wearing surface.

The $700,000 project should take about four months to complete. The contractor for the project is CMS Construction, Inc. of Plainfield, N.J.