Eastbound Newark Bay-Hudson Extension closed between 14 and 14A for emergency structural repairs

HUDSON COUNTY — The eastbound Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike will be closed to traffic between Interchanges 14 and 14A while repair crews address a structural problem with the bridge deck.
The bearings between the bridge deck and a pier at milepost 0.5 of the Extension became overextended, causing the eastbound bridge deck to drop several inches. Repairs crews have begun jacking the structure back into place in order to repair the bearings. It is too soon to determine when the eastbound Extension will reopen, but engineers estimate that the work will take at least 36 hours, which was to keep the Extension closed until at least Thursday evening.
The bearings are steel pieces that connect the bridge deck to the pier. They are designed to allow for controlled movement of the bridge deck, such as expansion or contraction due to temperature changes. A contractor working in the area discovered that several bearings on the pier beneath the eastbound roadway at milepost 0.5 had rotated out of position.
In addition to the repair work, engineers working for the Turnpike Authority are evaluating similar bearings beneath the Extension to make sure there are no other problems.
For real-time traffic conditions in the area, drivers should call 511 from a hands-free mobile device or download the SafeTripNJ smartphone app. Links to live camera views of traffic conditions on the roadway can be found under the Travel Tools tab at the top of this page.