Officals: 295 overpass closed at Hawks Bridge Road indefinitely for structural repairs to the bridge

Officials in New Jersey announced the closure of northbound 295 between Exit 1 and Exit 2 indefinitely, due to structural issues with the Hawks Bridge Road overpass.

They went on to say it could be several months before this portion of 295, in Carneys Point, reopens.

In addition, Route 140 eastbound is closed at Route 130 and Route 140 westbound is closed at the bridge, with traffic shuttled onto 295.

New Jersey State Police were called to mile marker 1.7, near Exit 2, Tuesday afternoon, a little before 5 p.m., for an accident that closed all of the northbound lanes, at the Hawks Bridge Road overpass, on 295.

A preliminary investigation of the accident found a tractor trailer was carrying an over-sized fork lift when the top of the forklift hit the underside of the overpass, causing substantial damage to the overpass.

The decision was made to shut the bridge by 5:30 Wednesday evening, after determining the bridge is no longer structurally sound and must be closed to traffic while engineers work to make the bridge sound.

Traffic is being routed to US 130 and the New Jersey Turnpike.

More information regarding the closures can be found on the NJDOT's real-time traffic information website, here.