Axelsson even has to struggle with the bridge when he's on land. Like many other bridges in southern New Jersey, the Middle Thorofare Bridge is structurally deficient as well as obsolete. Its deck is in poor condition. Constant repair jobs keep the bridge from closing. Eleven other area bridges have the same designation.
Every barrier island has at least one.
They are often taken for granted, but when a bridge closes, motorists quickly realize how important they are to the area. Reporters from The Press of Atlantic City visited many of the problem bridges. They walked over them and went under them. What they saw wasn't pretty. Cement from the substructure at the Mays Landing-Somers Point Bridge has fallen to the ground.