The bridge connects Rumson and Middletown, over the Navesink River.
County officials will hold the session from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Middletown Township Municipal Building on Kings Highway.
The debate is not whether the 2,712-foot-long bridge needs to be replaced. Rather, it’s the replacement bridge’s vertical clearance that has been debated since at least 2019.
When closed, the draw-bridge’s navigational clearance sits 22 feet above the water at mean high tide. However, on the U.S. Coast Guard’s recommendation, the new bridge could have a vertical clearance as high as 65 feet. A Preliminary Determination of Navigational Clearance Letter was issued by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in March 2019. The letter confirmed that a movable bridge would need 22 feet of vertical clearance, but a fixed bridge alternative “must be at least 65 feet.”