(The following story by Robert Stern appeared on the Times of Trenton website on July 8, 2009.)
HAMILTON, N.J. — The integrity of an aging railroad bridge that crosses Nottingham Way is under scrutiny because concrete structures at its base have gaping holes and cracks.
The steel bridge carries Amtrak and NJ Transit commuter trains across Nottingham Way and is located between the Trenton and Hamilton train stations.
The Amtrak-owned span and its underpinnings were the focus of an engineering study that Hamilton Township commissioned three years ago, records show.
Although that study concluded that the integrity of the bridge was not in jeopardy as a result of the crumbling concrete at its base, one Robbinsville woman recently flagged what she describes as worsening deterioration in the concrete.
“The concrete base of the railroad overpass on Nottingham Way … is disintegrating at an alarming rate,” Joyce Gnandt warned in a letter to The Times. “I have noticed recently that the concrete is breaking down and there are now large cracks and holes in the structure. The walls are bulging out in some areas.”
Gnandt said the area beneath the bridge has flooded often during the years and alleged that many large trucks have gotten stuck under the overpass after miscalculating its 12-foot-6-inch clearance.
She speculated those factors and the weight of passing trains probably have contributed to undermining the integrity of the bridge. Township engineer Richard S. Williams said despite the missing and broken concrete sections, the bridge itself appears to be in sound condition.
Williams, who examined the concrete damage at the request of The Times on Monday, pointed out that he is not qualified as a structural engineer to assess the bridge’s condition.
Williams said there is not much the township can do about the bridge or its underpass because Amtrak owns the span and Nottingham Way is a county road.
In its July 2006 study of the condition of the Nottingham Way railroad overpass, Red Bank-based Maser Consulting concluded that the bridge deficiencies it noted “do not represent any hazard for the public.”
Maser’s analysis, however, only examined the bridge substructures as a courtesy overview, according to its report.
“Every bridge structure is regularly inspected, on a biannual basis, by the pertinent regulatory agency,” the report stated.
An Amtrak spokesman looking into Amtrak’s inspection records of the bridge said the information would be available later this week.
Although the Maser report concluded that the bridge does not pose a public hazard, it recommended replacement as soon as possible of the sidewalks on either side of the underpass, the concrete retaining walls along Nottingham Way and the metal railing bordering the elevated sidewalks.
Despite those recommendations three years ago, no work has occurred in that time to improve the conditions at the railroad bridge.