Major renovations on the 85-year-old George Washington Bridge over the coming decade will keep the iconic span alive into the next century, and officials say they're planning an intricate construction schedule to spare rush hour drivers from delays.

The 11 projects are part of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's nearly $2 billion "Restore the George" program that repair and rebuild key components of the bridge and its approach roads.

"We want this to last for another 80-90 years," said engineer Robert Carleton, senior program manager.

The GWB is the nation's busiest crossing, moving about 300,000 vehicles daily. So protecting rush hour traffic from construction delays is a top priority, said Cedric Fulton, director of bridges, tunnels and terminals.

Some of the projects, announced in prior years, have been bundled into the Restore the George plan.

"We're balancing the reality of having a huge amount of capital projects and making sure we protect the rush hour," he said. "We focus on construction during the overnight, (primarily) from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., only 7 percent of our traffic moves during that time."



The reality is that some work could creep close to the end of the rush, when the decision is made to start construction at 10 p.m. In the worst case, construction could begin at 9 p.m. if the schedule warrants, Fulton said.



Other options are closing lanes on weekends for 10 to 14 hours overnight. Typically, the authority has 17 "extended" 14-hour weekend closures each year, but Restore the George projects will require 50, Fulton said.



"People will notice the extended weekends," Fulton said.



Work started in early 2015 on the lower level with removing lead paint, and continued this year with repaving the eastbound lower level and its approach roads, which is scheduled to end in early 2017.

The most significant project is the $1.03 billion replacement of 592 vertical cables, known as suspender ropes. Those are the original cables, and they support the bridge deck across the river.



"The suspender ropes lasted 85 years," Fulton said. "The only other bridge (with cables) that lasted that long was the Brooklyn Bridge."



Work also will be done to rehabilitate the 26,474 wires in each of the two main support cables that hold up the suspender ropes. That work starts next year and continues to 2024. Drivers won't be affected because that project is off the roadway.



"Necklace" lighting will be replaced on the cables with lights that change color, similar to what is seen on the Empire State Building, Fulton said.



Some other bridge projects will delay traffic.



Drivers who access the bridge from the Palisades Interstate Parkway will experience delays when a $117 million project to replace the helix starts in June or July. For drivers, that means lanes will be closed when crews are working over active roadways, Carleton said. The helix is scheduled to be completed in 2019.





Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.



