There’s something new on the Avalon side of the Townsends Inlet Bridge – remain calm, it’s still open. A historical plaque was recently installed, telling the story behind the building of the Ocean Drive bridges throughout Cape May County.

Search your memory from high school to when you learned of the WPA (Work Projects Administration), part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal that was signed into law in 1935. The program employed 8 million people over the course of eight years, providing work for unemployed individuals during the Depression. Projects around the country included roads, art projects, bridges, school and government buildings. Many of the projects, such as the T.I. Bridge, are still in use today, some 70-plus years later. . The engineering company mentioned on the plaque is still in existence today operating as “HNTB.” And many of the mechanical gearing components (made in Philadelphia, PA by the Earle Gear Co.) are still in use today!

Chief Engineer for the Cape May County Bridge Commission, Lewis Donofrio, provided some more insight. “The sign was installed by Agate Construction Co. as part of the recent project which replaced the first seven spans of the original structure. This project was partially funded by the NJ Dept. of Transportation, Local Bridge, Future Needs grant program.” As a condition of the grant program, the NJ State Historic Preservation Office reviewed the project and recommended how to preserve the historical character of the bridge by installing this interpretive sign.

The sign reads: “During the first half of the 20th Century, many movable bridges were erected in Cape May County linking the County’s barrier island resorts and connecting them to the mainland. Because the bridges were movable, commercial and pleasure boats could freely pass through the county’s back bays and inlets. The Townsends Inlet Bridge was one of four similar ‘Trunnion Bascule’ movable bridges that were designed by the firm of Ash, Howard, Needles & Tammen and erected between 1938 and 1940 by the Cape May County Bridge Commission. Funding for the Townsends Inlet Bridge was provided by the Public Works Administration. The bridge is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for its technological significance and as a ‘monument to the Depression Era New Deal programs to improve America’s infrastructure.’ ”