Freeholder Ben Simmermon holds award.
NEWS RELEASE
Salem County Board of Chosen Freeholders
92 Market Street. Salem, N.J. 08079
Contact: Rita Shade Simpson, Clerk of the Board/Administrator
February 13, 2002
COUNTY WINS "BEST SMALL BRIDGE" AWARD
Freeholder Ben Simmermon holds award.
SALEM Salem Countys reconstruction of the Frank Smith Road Bridge in Lower Alloway Creek is the states top "Quality Merit Award" winner in the "Best Small Bridge" category, Freeholder Director Dave Sparks announced today.
The prestigious engineering honor is given by the New Jersey Quality Initiative Council, which is part of the New Jersey Department of Transportation. NJQIC promotes excellence in principles and practices in maintaining and repairing New Jerseys transportation system.
"This award for quality recognized combining the design and construction phases into a single process to reduce costs by 60%, said Sparks. "This approach reduced the estimated price of $250,000 to a finished cost of $98,500. Our Road Department aided construction, which helped keep costs down."
Road and Bridge Chairman Freeholder Ben Simmermon credited the County Engineering team for developing the best cost-effective approach to reconstructing the bridge.
"The County partnered with W.J. Castle, P.E. and Associates to unite both bridge design and construction, " said Simmermon. " The timber-decked, steel bridge was rebuilt from off-the-shelf parts, which makes it easier to repair in the future."
The 25-foot, two-lane Frank Smith Road Bridge, originally constructed in early 1900, was reconstructed in 1960 and again in 1999 using the "Design-Build" construction technique.
The NJQI award was given to Salem County during a February 8th ceremony in Princeton.