NJ Turnpike Interchange 6-9 Widening, Design Section 7, MP 68.3-70.6

By 2032, northbound and southbound tra?c volumes on the New Jersey Turnpike are expected to increase by 68 and 92 percent, respectively. To address these future demands, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) initiated their Interchange 6 to 9 Widening Program in 2005. In 2007, Arora and Associates, P.C. was selected to perform the final design of the 2.3 mile long Section 7 of the Widening Program. Section 7 expanded the turnpike mainline from six to twelve lanes. One of the more challenging aspects of Section 7 was the design of the Turnpike Mainline bridges over Hightstown-Cranbury Station Road and Conrail’s Hightstown Industrial Track. The new bridges are 250’ long, two-span continuous steel structures on a 73o skew. In order to assess the effects of DL, LL and thermal demands due to the extreme skew, Arora developed 3-D Finite Element models. Analyses evaluate the girder twist and high cross-frame forces that develop due to the skewed supports. Detailed analyses were also performed to evaluate the responses due to steel erection operations and deck pouring sequence.