Bonner Bridge Repairs Start Today

Our crews started making repairs this morning on the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, which carries N.C. 12 over Oregon Inlet in Dare County. They will repair, clean and paint the steel girders that make up three spans of the high-rise portion of the bridge over the main channel. Crews will cut out deteriorating sections of the girders and replace them with new steel. Once the new steel is in place, they will paint it to protect it from the elements. How do you work on a bridge, over  an  inlet? Our workers will stand on decking placed under the bridge. Special tarps will catch any of the old paint that falls off the bridge during the project  to protect the environment. The decking will reduce the vertical clearance for vessels traveling through the navigational channel in the Oregon Inlet from 65 feet to 61 feet. The N.C. Department of Transportation is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to inform mariners of the temporary change. The work was originally scheduled to start last September but it was postponed until this week because of the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Weather permitting, the work is should be complete by May 22. The repair work will close one lane along a one-quarter mile section of the bridge over the main channel. During the first few days of the project, the lane closure will be in place during daylight hours only. Following that period, it will go into effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Look for  portable traffic signals to guide motorists through the work zone. If you're headed that way, be sure to allow  additional time to reach your destination and go slow and pay attention in the work zone. Astron General Contractors  is working with NCDOT on the $741,000 project.

Temporary Bridge Repair Update: Getting Close to Wrapping Up

NCDOT crews have finished the guardrail work affecting traffic on the N.C.12 temporary bridge. This afternoon,the permanent metal guardrail was installed. Work continues dredging sand to the south side of the inlet to reinforce the shoreline and to anchor the armor stone protecting the bridge. If the weather hold outs this weekend and next week, work will begin to fill approximately 100 sand bags which will be placed between the new sheet piling. The sand bags are five feet wide, 15 feet long & two feet tall. It's possible that next week, we may have to close a lane over the bridge for a small portion of a day or two while we load equipment necessary to finish the job.

Update of Repairs to the Temporary Bridge - with Photos

As of yesterday afternoon, approximately 2,500 tons of armor rock have been placed around the bridge. The tides and currents have been favorable, allowing the rock to be installed against the new sheet pile that extends into the water from the south end of the bridge. More rock is needed against the existing sheet pile on the west side. Rock placement is also underway at the end of the new sheet pile on the east side.

Weather and tide permitting, the rock placement could be complete next week. Temporary lane closures began January 18th near the temporary bridge so crews could install protective measures to prevent erosion near the south end of the bridge.

More photos of the repair work on Flickr

WOVV

Shout out to WOVV.org ...streaming Ocracoke radio. Brian Pompeii, host of This Island Life stopped in at the public meeting on NC12.  He interviewed several NCDOT staffers on the future of the highway, including project olanning engineer Beth Smyre.

This Island Life airs on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m..

Last NC12 Workshop-Ocracoke

We're at the Ocracoke Community Center, where the public can drop in from 5-7 tonight to discuss plans for fixing the breaches caused by Hurricane Irene.

We are also doing a Q&A session via Twitter until 7 p.m. - follow the conversion with #NC12NextSteps.

Ocracoke Workshop Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the last of three public workshops to discuss long-term solutions for the breaches on N.C. 12 caused by Hurricane Irene.  The informal, drop-in style workshop begins at 5 p.m. at the Ocracoke Community Center. Starting at 4:00 p.m. we'll be live tweeting from the community center, via the @NCDOT and @NCDOT_NC12 Twitter accounts. Join the conversation by following the hashtag #NC12NextSteps. We can't promise we'll be able to answer all the questions, but we'll try! And remember, if you have any comments you'd like submitted for official review, please email them to to bsmyre@ncdot.gov - the Twitter conversation is informal, but informational, and we hope it will be fun! By the way, you can download the meeting packet here and the maps are on line as well. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Christmas Parade Love for the Temporary Bridge!