Rehoboth drawbridge to get $1 million paint job

Looking to extend the life of the Rehoboth Beach drawbridge, the state has announced it will be conducting a maintenance cleaning and painting of the structure later this year. The work is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete.

The Delaware Department of Transportation held an information meeting April 7 to discuss the project. Jonathan T. Moore, DelDOT bridge maintenance and construction supervising engineer, was on hand representing the state.

There are areas of active corrosion on the bridge, said Moore. There are no structural concerns presently, but if something isn’t done, there will be in the next seven to nine years, he said.

“Rust is like cancer,” said Moore. “It will spread unless it’s fully removed.”

Located on the far west end of Rehoboth Avenue, the drawbridge crosses the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. According to DelDOT, the bridge was constructed in 1986, is 169 feet long and 66 feet wide, and sees an average of 21,673 vehicles cross to and from Rehoboth daily. The bridge has had some spot painting performed throughout the years, but it hasn’t been fully painted since 1996.

Moore said the process will start with installing a containment system around the structure that’s designed to catch all the old paint being removed and any overspray from when the new paint is being applied. The bridge’s steel will be covered in a three-coat system – zinc primer, epoxy coat, polyurethane top coat – and the concrete will be covered in a two-coat system – epoxy layer with silicone-acrylic paint. The bridge will still be green when it’s done, he said.

The window for the contractor to complete the project will be Oct. 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, but Moore said the paint is extremely weather sensitive, and he doesn’t expect much work to be done in December, January or February. Ideally, the contractor would work on this in the fall, he said.

There will be temporary lane shifts in place while the containment system is being installed. Moore said the lane shifts will occur from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during installation, and while there will be no loss of vehicular traffic lanes, the bike lane will be closed while work is being done. Travel lanes will be restored to normal at the end of each shift, he said.

Once the containment system is installed, said Moore, traffic lanes will return to normal while the remaining work is being completed. It will take three to five days to install the containment system at the beginning of the project and three to five days at the end to remove it, he said.

There will be size restrictions for boats in effect while the containment system is installed, because the drawbridge will not be able to open.

Moore said DelDOT has studied boat traffic, which is one of the reasons for the fall and winter time frame. During the summer, the bridge might go up 100 times in a week, but once October arrives, that falls to below 10, he said.

In addition to boating restrictions, Canal Street will be dead-ended near the bridge throughout the duration of the project so the Rehoboth Avenue end of the street can be used as a staging area for equipment. Moore said Canal Street residents will have access the whole time, but other drivers trying to get to Rehoboth Avenue will be detoured down Sixth Street and then toward the traffic circle.

Moore said the Rehoboth drawbridge is among several bridges in the area getting painted by DelDOT, including five in Milford, one west of Milford and two in Seaford. The total construction budget for the whole package is about $5.5 million, with the Rehoboth bridge coming in at just over $1 million, he said.

For more information on the project, call 302-760-2080 or email dotpublic@delaware.gov. Include the project name – cleaning and painting of bridge 3-153 – or contract number – T202407901 – to expedite a response.