The Glimmer Glass Bridge, which covers a portion of the Manasquan inlet, is undergoing some repairs after mechanical failure closed it down on October 3.

Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone says when the mechanical failure occurred, engineers determined the drive system needed to be removed and checked out.

When they took it apart though, there was a problem with the motor.

"The county engineers and bridge consultant responded immediately and determined that the drive system needed to be shipped to a specialized machine shop which would have been okay but after disassembling it we found that the gear had been fractured and we needed a new gearbox," Arnone tells Townsquare Media News.

The new gearbox is on its way to Monmouth County with repairs, which cost about $40,000, are expected to last until the middle of December before the bridge becomes fully operational again.

It's not just one set of parts coming to Monmouth County either, as Freeholders are taking precautions for the bridge is 82-years old.

"We also purchased a backup drive motor and gearbox to keep in our inventory to provide redundancy in case this happens again, but hopefully we don't get to that point," Arnone said.

While this is a more interim, temporary fix, Arnone says they're looking into a longer term solution to protect the bridge.

"We're still working with our state and federal agencies to move forward with the Section 106 permit process, which requires for historic bridges, for an ultimate decision to be made," Arnone said. "This is a little unique here as we have many obstacles to go through because of the historic component."

He adds that they'll continue maintaining the bridge hope to do whatever they can to protect it long-term.

"Ultimately the bridge needs to be addressed permanently and hopefully after we receive the permit of the action taken, we can move to a permanent remedy for this," Arnone said.

Vin
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You can follow Vin Ebenau on Twitter and Instagram and email news tips to vin.ebenau@townsquaremedia.com.

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