Following the record flooding due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Somerset County
contacted the Van Cleef to perform emergency inspections of County bridges and culverts.
Van Cleef performed inspections of 157 bridges and culverts over the next two weeks. The
crews discovered numerous sites with large amounts of flood debris blocking the
waterways, washed out embankments which threatened roadways, and washout of
streambed material through bridge openings with exposed bridge foundations. Close
coordination with the County was performed by the team leaders to notify them of them of
critical findings which required the immediate attention of County repair crews. The field
inspections were followed up with the team members preparing reports to document the
flood related damage, repair quantities and photos of the sites for the County to identify
and prioritize repairs and clean up work.

Somerset County then contacted Van Cleef to provide a team to conduct a more in-depth
inspection of the historic Elm Street Bridge in Hillsborough and Branchburg Townships. The
bridge is a 282 foot long, two span lenticular through truss structure over the South Branch
of the Raritan River and is within the Neshanic Station Historic District. Considered to be a
contributing element to the historic district, the bridge is documented as part of the
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. The bridge is the last lenticular truss in New Jersey, and is one of less than
20 of this construction left in the United States. The bridge has been closed to traffic since
the flooding, due to the heavy amount of flood debris. Van Cleef made two site visits to the
bridge, documenting damage, and making repair recommendations for the County to begin
the process of ordering members to repair this historic bridge so it can be opened to traffic.