FAYETTEVILLE – New bridges are on the way in Bladen, Columbus and Robeson counties.
The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded three contracts to replace a total of five bridges in Robeson County and one each in Bladen and Columbus counties.
The contracts went to:
— S&C Construction LLC of Wilmington for $2.3 million to replace two Robeson County bridges over Jackson Swamp on Judge Road and Back Swamp on South Chicken Road; and one Bladen County bridge over Crawley Swamp on Center Road.
— E.S. Wagner Co. LLC. of Piedmont, S.C., for $1.9 million to replace three Robeson County bridges over Leith Creek on N.C. 83; over First Swamp on McLeod Drive; and over Burnt Swamp on Evergreen Church Road.
— The Tara Group of Lumberton for $520,434 to replace a Columbus County bridge over Cedar Creek on Peacock Road, southeast of Chadbourn.
Most of the bridges were built in the 1950s, and one was erected in 1947. Although they have remained safe, all of them are structurally deficient, which means they have aging components, require costly maintenance and may have limits on vehicle weights or low clearances. Some also are functionally obsolete and no longer meet the demands of today’s traffic using them.
This was one of 16 highway and bridge project contracts recently awarded by NCDOT. They were worth about $204.5 million, which was more than $13 million under estimates.