The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced the start of a bridge maintenance project that will address 28 individual bridge structures along the entirety of Interstate 195 in Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties.

   NJDOT’s maintenance contractor, Power Concrete Co. Inc., is scheduled to begin repair work this week at the CR 547 bridges over I-195 in Howell, Monmouth County.

   To help extend the service life of 28 bridge and ramp structures that cross over I-195 between Wall Township and Hamilton Township, NJDOT will be performing different levels of bridge maintenance work at each location including deck patching, joint repairs, header reconstruction, crack repairs and the application of a corrosion inhibitor. Work will be performed on abutment walls and piers at certain locations as well.

   The list of repair projects includes the Richardson Road overpass crossing I-195 in Robbinsville. In Milltsone Township, projects include Yellow Meeting House Road over I-195 and Trenton-Lakewood Road (CR 526) over I-195. In Upper Freehold, projects include Old York Road over I-195 and Imlaystown-Hightstown Road over I-195.

   The state lists eight projects in Hamilton, seven in Jackson, seven in Howell Township and one in Wall Township.

   Performing these types of proactive, preventive repairs helps prolong the lifespan of these bridges and delays the need for more extensive and more expensive projects.

   Construction will be performed mainly during daytime hours utilizing shoulder closures on I-195 and single-lane closures atop the bridges. No lane closures will be necessary on Route 195 which is one of the most heavily traveled east-to-west highways in central New Jersey.

   The $2.8 million project is scheduled to be completed in June 2012.

   NJDOT began a similar preventative bridge maintenance contract to address 38 bridges along Route 18 in Monmouth and Middlesex counties this past March. That work is on schedule for completion this winter.

   All work is weather dependent. Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website — www.511nj.org — for construction updates and real-time travel information.