After an I-295 wall collapse in Camden County, a new law requires stronger testing for road construction

An I-295 retaining wall that collapsed three years ago is 85% rebuilt as work continues on the massive $1 billion project to untangle a South Jersey interchange where three expressways meet, NJDOT said Wednesday.

Now, a new state law inspired by the mishap is aimed at preventing a repeat of the errors found to have contributed to it, including the use of outdated geological data and a wall design ill-suited to sandy soil in an area with high groundwater levels.

“We had the opportunity to make sure this doesn’t happen again anywhere else in the state,” said Assemblyman Bill Moen (D., Camden), who represents Bellmawr and cosponsored the legislation Gov. Phil Murphy signed last week.

In late 2023, the New Jersey Department of Transportation estimated that the wall reconstruction would add $92 million to the overall cost of “Direct Connect,” an intended fix for the regional traffic choke point in Bellmawr where Interstates 295 and 76 and Route 42 join.

The collapse also pushed back the completion date of the Camden County megaproject, which began in 2013.

Under the new law, groundwater monitoring must be conducted before work can start on New Jersey transportation projects. Results from past monitoring can be used only if they are less than five years old, Moen said.

Early on a late March morning in 2021 after a heavy rain, workers discovered the wall sagging, with some of its tiles bulging out, a fissure at the top and standing water at the bottom. The soil anchoring the structure was disturbed.

The elevated roadway supported by the wall was not open to traffic, and no one was injured.

Later a forensic engineering report prepared for NJDOT found that sand and silt used as fill for an embankment were not stable enough to support the 30-foot wall due to persistent moisture from a high groundwater level.

Signs of instability were reported by contractors as early as 2016, and the site was chronically damp or wet, the investigation found.

“The climate is changing, and groundwater levels are only going to increase — look at the [frequent] flooding in South Jersey and Philadelphia — so it’s important to have accurate geological data,” Moen said.

The state transportation department has expressed support for the new law, and legislators consulted with NJDOT as they drafted it.

When the project is finished, it will directly connect the northbound and southbound lanes of I-295, ending the hair-raising merges motorists must perform to negotiate the interchange — a main artery between Philadelphia and the Shore.

“In a few weeks, we are scheduled to shift traffic coming off Al-Jo’s curve heading to I-295 southbound slightly to the right onto a new ramp,” a spokesperson for NJDOT said. A single lane on the left will carry traffic heading for Route 42 southbound toward Atlantic City.

Once traffic is redirected, crews will begin building piers for a new bridge that will carry I-295 over I-76/Route 42 and the Browning Road Bridge in Bellmawr, the spokesperson said.

The Browning Road Bridge is expected to open this fall, with all the work for both structures done in 2028, he said. A final portion of the connection is being designed, and no timetable has been set, NJDOT said.

That means the entire project may not be done until the early 2030s.

Meanwhile, a companion construction project connecting the Route 42 freeway and I-295 with new ramps opened in November 2023, enabling motorists to move between the two major roadways without crowding local streets.

The so-called missing moves project, which cost $180 million, is a “bright spot in a big headache,” Moen said.