On Monday, March 18, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will begin rehabilitating the existing drawbridge on U.S. 64 over the Alligator River in Tyrrell and Dare counties.
The work will begin with intermittent lane closures Monday, March 18, through Monday, April 1, as crews perform preparation work. During the lane closure motorists will be in a one-lane, one-way pattern crossing the bridge, controlled by flaggers.
The bridge will be closed to all traffic from Tuesday, April 2, through Sunday, April 14, as crews swing the bridge into the open position, raise it up with supports, secure both ends, and replace several mechanical parts. This bridge, which was built in 1960, opens more than 500 times each month.
Because of the amount of use, the mechanical components of the bridge are worn and rehabilitation work is being performed in an effort to prevent future closures to the bridge.
During the closure, motorists will use the signed 90-mile detour route. Motorists traveling from Columbia should follow N.C. 94 South to U.S. 264 East to U.S. 64. Motorists traveling from Dare County should follow U.S. 264 West to N.C. 94 North to U.S. 64.
Public transit service will be provided during the bridge closure. NCDOT is working with the Inter-County Public Transit Authority and Hyde County Transit to provide transit options and will announce the details as soon as plans are finalized.
The $489,500 contract was awarded to PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. of Tampa, Fl.
For additional information about the Alligator River Bridge rehabilitation project, please visit http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/US64AlligatorRiverBridge/.
For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone. Then, bookmark it to save for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.
