ALBANY—Work has begun in earnest on a $19.4-million New York State Thruway project to rehabilitate two aging bridges on the Thruway in the Village of Suffern, NY in Rockland County.

Preliminary work began last fall on the bridges, both of which are at least 70 years old and about a tenth of a mile apart. The stretch of Thruway also serves motorists and commercial vehicles traveling to and from New Jersey via I-287 via Exit 15 at milepost 30.17.

Contractor crews will repair concrete substructure and steel superstructure, along with completely replacing the concrete deck and parapets with precast concrete deck panels on the bridge over Route 202 (milepost 29.54). Crews will construct new bridge joints on the span over the Mahwah River (milepost 29.41). Both bridges are located on I-87 between exit 14B (Airmont – Montebello – Airmont Road) and Exit 15 (New Jersey – I-287 – NJ Route 17 South).

Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank G. Hoare, Jr., said the bridges have served the roadway network “reliably over the decades, and we are undertaking efforts to ensure they remain safe and dependable for the tens of millions of motorists who use them each year.”