Bridge unit to get $9M more for Tacony damage

The Burlington County Bridge Commission this week will collect a $9.4 million check for damage to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, commission officials said.

A triangular metal fender, designed to protect a bridge support pier from boats and debris in the water, was knocked off by a Delaware River ice floe in January 2003. Divers recovered the broken fender from the river bottom about 100 feet away. A temporary fender was installed to protect the pier.

The bridge commission's insurer, Lloyd's of London, paid $1.5 million in 2004 and argued that that was the limit of its liability. The commission claimed it was due much more for reimbursement of total damages. After years of negotiations and court battles, a Superior Court judge ruled in the commission's favor, and Lloyd's agreed to pay $9.4 million more.

The $10.9 million will be used to replace the temporary fender and a fender on an adjacent pier, commission spokeswoman Liz Verna said yesterday. The work is expected to take 18 months. - Paul Nussbaum