This photo came in with this morning's batch from the site of the temporary bridge on NC12 and out of context it might look a little strange, if not precarious:
So, what's going on here?
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Yesterday, our crews installed hydraulic
jacks underneath the bridge truss and began lifting it in order to remove the temporary roller bearings used to extend the bridge across the breach. The jacks will also be used to lower the bridge onto the permanent bearings. This is a very delicate procedure where the
bridge is alternately supported on wood blocks and lowered with the jacks
approximately four to six inches at a time. Eventually, the
bridge will be lowered approximately two to five feet, depending on the location along the
bridge alignment.
This week's NCDOT Now features video of the work on NC 12:
For the last month, we’ve been keeping you updated daily on
the progress of NCDOT’s efforts to repair damage done to N.C.12 after Hurricane
Irene. The lion’s share of the information we’re passing on comes directly from
one person, Assistant Resident Engineer Pablo
Hernandez, NCDOT’s project manager on-site.
He spends every day, and even some nights making sure things are on
track, overseeing the repairs on the S-curves near Rodanthe and the installation
of the temporary bridge on Pea Island. We
caught up with him early this morning via cell phone from Dare County.
Hernandez is a 13-year veteran of NCDOT. He spent six years
working for the Washington state transportation department before coming back to
North Carolina where he worked on another famous span – the Virginia Dare MemorialBridge near Manteo, which happens to be our state’s longest bridge at 5.2
miles.
“I’ve been coming to the Outer Banks ever since I was a
little kid,” Hernandez said. “The
beaches here are very similar to the beaches where my mother is from in South
America. Back in 1998, I was fortunate enough
to get a job in a beach community like this.”
Among the projects he’s worked on in his NCDOT career, Hernandez
said the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge was certainly the biggest. He also recalls that an intense effort to
repair seven bridges on Ocracoke in two and a half months in 2008 garnered much
community attention. The Pea
Island project, however, is the real standout.
“It ranks as the most unusual, most complex and most
fast-paced project I’ve worked on,” he said.
Hernandez said the way Dare County, North Carolina and the world
is following the repairs is also notable.
“Back in 2008 on the Ocracoke project, all we had was the ‘straight’
internet. We had a web page that we
updated maybe every other day and that was all.
Now with Twitter and Facebook there’s more widespread interest. It’s really having an impact.”
Hernandez’s updates and photos often include mentions of
wildlife or pictures of a nice sunset over the marshes around the project. In talking to him, it’s clear he has a
connection with the whole Outer Banks area that extends well beyond the task at
hand. Recently, a tenacious snapping turtle tried to across the work zone, and it was Hernandez who went to the
rescue.
“I just had to get him out of the road. I didn’t want him to get run over by some
piece of heavy equipment,” Hernandez explained. “But I did it with a shovel –
people don’t understand how fast those things can move! “
Was he successful and did the turtle cooperate?
“Yes, but not without a fight!”
Hernandez doesn’t have much free time these days, but when
he does, he enjoys hanging out on the beach with his family and traveling to
see other members of his family who are in Uruguay and Mexico, and he’s
learning to kite surf.
More from Hernandez in our video "Restoring the Link"
Crews have driven half of the 82 piles needed for the temporary bridge across the breach at Pea Island! And they are over half way on installing the 726 linear feet of sheet piling bulkhead.
Meanwhile, crews had a visitor on the site yesterday.The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is the largest freshwater turtle in North Carolina. It can be found all across the state, and it's been known to hang out in brackish coastal water. The marshland on the sound side of the area near the N.C. 12 breaches is a great place for these interesting, yet intimidating critters to live. Don't let these turtles fool you, though. Even though they may seem slow, when threatened, they can move very fast and their strong jaws can cause a very painful bite, hence their name. Hopefully, our crews left this little guy well enough alone!
