New Update Video Released on the Progress of the Bonner Bridge ….WITH VIDEO

By JOY CRIST

A new video with updates on the Bonner Bridge progress was released by Dare County on April 12th on their Government and Education Channel’s Facebook page.

The update chronicles the latest projects that crews have been working on to complete the new Bonner Bridge as well as the Interim Bridge, which are slated to be completed by November 2018.

At the northern edge of the bridge, five spans of the bridge’s decking have been installed and poured with concrete. Three of the spans – each 160 ft. in length – are some of the longest in the structure’s design. As the bridge’s deck continues to take shape heading south towards the inlet, crews have also begun the process of pouring and forming the concrete barriers along the sides of the bridge that will serve as the guardrails of the new roadway.

In the waters of the inlet, with the first column completed and clearly visible, crews have begun installing the first pre-cast segments of what is called the “pier table.” Each segment, which weighs 95 tons and stands over 19 ft. in height, will be linked together with steel cable forming the decking for the bridge’s roadway in the highest spans of the bridge.

Meanwhile on the south side of the Bonner Bridge project, land-based pile driving resumes at the water’s edge, working towards the previously installed six southernmost girder spans. Crews are also constructing a work trestle that will enable them to move north through the shallow waters of the inlet to join the northern site.

At the Pea Island Interim Bridge site, with the sheet piling already installed at the northern end of the project, crews are working to complete the installation of the caps that will enable them to install the last three spans of girders of the bridge’s north end that will meet the roadway. On the south end of the interim bridge, crews are working to wrap up pile driving and the installation of the remaining sheet pilings, which is expected to be completed by the end of April.

Drivers in these areas should continue to expect daytime lane closures Monday through Friday, and should allow for extra travel time as needed. Additionally, scheduled nighttime road closures lasting up to 30 minutes are possible for delivery of construction materials. NCDOT will provide notice of these road closures via various online and social media resources, as well as its travel management system website, www.drivenc.gov.

Visit www.NCDOT.gov/NC12 for additional updates on the Bonner Bridge project, as well as traffic and travel information.