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The Rodanthe Bridge is 75% complete and NCDOT is aiming to finish the structure by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

Expenditures now total $133.26 million.

A half-mile separates the two construction sides of the bridge. That closeness is reflected in the bridge parts already placed: 90 of 108 bents installed with 297 of 352 piles driven; 288 of 388 girders set; and 80 of 107 deck spans cast.

NCDOT project manager Pablo Hernandez said the piles are still difficult to drive at the north end of the project. Auguring the soil inside the concrete cylinders seems to work.

Pile driving should be complete in early September if the weather cooperates.

When three to four more spans are completed on the north end, the trestle will be dismantled and rails and cranes will be trucked off the northern part of the bridge. The crews on the south end, which have completed the majority of the structure, will make the connection.

Hernandez reported that the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative has finished part of Phase 1 of its transmission relocation project. At the project’s south end, riser poles and an underground bore have been installed. Work is underway at the northern end.

Roadway work at the south end of the project will like take place late fall or early winter.

With summer’s high temperatures, Hernandez said that concrete pours will occur between 2 and 4 a.m.

When the bridge is finished and open, NC 12 will shift to the new structure. The remnant portion that extends northward from about Island Convenience to the end of Mirlo Beach subdivision will likely carry a four-digit NCDOT number.

“One of the challenges along N.C.12 is over wash from many different points. The Department will do our best to maintain drivable access on the remnant,” states the slide presentation.

As a reminder, the current NC 12 pavement from the northern Rodanthe border to the northern start of the bridge will be removed as part of the project. At the remnant’s northern end, NCDOT will install sandbags and an east-west dune. A turnaround is envisioned.

NCDOT provides quarterly updates about construction progress for the Rodanthe Bridge. The next update is set for Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. The June 3 meeting was held virtually. The September meeting will be provided virtually and most likely in person in Rodanthe.

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