CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The north pedestrian walkway on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge is set to reopen, as an innovative project to preserve the bridge’s suspension cables shifts to the south side.
The north walkway has been closed for two years. It is slated to reopen within the next week or so. To accommodate the work, the south pedestrian walkway, with its accessible ramp on the Camden side, will close through late 2024.
The $217 million project includes the installation of a system to inject air at 40% humidity into the casings of the cables that run along the 97-year-old bridge.
“We are working to dehumidify it to improve the structural health and to make this bridge continue to last,” said Mike Venuto, Delaware River Port Authority chief engineer. “The key will be to get below 40% relative humidity inside that cable, reducing the ability for it to rust and deteriorate.”
Related
In the past, Venuto said, the cables were preserved with linseed oil.
“There are dehumidification systems on suspension bridges, but not retrofits where a cable had been previously oiled,” he explained.
The four-year preservation project is a little more than halfway finished. Next on the list is a dehumidification system for the 66-year-old Walt Whitman Bridge.
“It is in our capital program,” Venuto added. “We’re going to take the lessons that we learned from the Ben Franklin Bridge and apply those to the Walt Whitman Bridge as well.”
Related
