ELIZABETHTOWN — The line of vehicles at times was nearly a half-mile long, the delay about 15 minutes from the intersection of N.C. 53.
They waited to get into Elizabethtown, crossing the Cape Fear River on U.S. 701 where inspectors from the state Department of Transportation were reviewing the southbound span of the twin bridges. The delays were inconvenient for about six hours on Tuesday, but the end result was positive.
“The inspection went well, and we were able to verify everything with the bridge and substructures were in good shape and had not been affected by the recent flooding or the current debris pile,” said Andrew Barksdale, a spokesman for the DOT.
Both bridge spans, Tory Hole Park and the state-maintained boat launch area have been open at the same for less than nine weeks since Hurricane Florence in 2018. Following rain last week, the river went into flood stage over the weekend and a debris pile — smaller than the one the size of a baseball field that formed after Florence — piled up against the supports of the southbound span.
Word came Monday night that the bridge would close at 9 a.m. the next day for the emergency inspection, reducing travel to one lane. By mid-afternoon, traffic was again two-way on the one span.
It is unclear when the park and boat launch can reopen; the contract for the northbound span of the bridge has a completion date of Sept. 1.
The river crested early in the week and was continuing to recede Thursday. At its worst on the south side of the river, water encroached near the playground equipment area, the picnic shelters and the restrooms of Tory Hole Park; to the north it extended across the flat land near the river bank about a quarter-mile.
By some measure, there’s been an inconvenience of some sort since Florence.
In the 74 weeks since the storm dumped a record 35.93 inches of rain on Elizabethtown, Tory Hole Park has been open 36 weeks, both bridge spans of U.S. 701 have been open for 28 weeks, and the boat launch operated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has been open 20 weeks. Their time when all were open and fully operational is a day short of nine weeks.
The northbound span of the twin bridges was closed Nov. 21 for an emergency inspection, after which it remained closed for repair. The DOT said the interior bridge pier had shifted due to changes in the soil following Hurricane Florence. The “interior pier forms the substructures and pile foundation that supports the girders and riding deck,” a DOT release said.
Shortly after that closure, on Dec. 4, crews inspected the southbound span and deemed it safe for travel. Thus, Tuesday’s check is the second in 10 weeks.
The supports of the twin spans became a stopping point for more than 2,000 tons of debris after Hurricane Florence made landfall Sept. 14, 2018, and the Cape Fear flooded in Bladen County the following week. The southbound span, the lanes nearest the N.C. Wildlife Commission’s boat ramp adjacent to Tory Hole Park, was closed for 33 weeks, finally reopening May 7.
The boat ramp didn’t reopen until Sept. 20.
A debris field washed up against the southbound span of the U.S. 701 bridge into Elizabethtown last weekend. Crews will begin removing it after the water level goes down. The bridge span will remain open during the work period.
Traffic flows, albeit in only two-way manner, across the U.S. 701 southbound span at Elizabethtown on Wednesday evening at rush hour. The twin spans of U.S. 701 across the Cape Fear River and the adjacent boat launch and town park have all been open at the same just eight weeks and six days since Hurricane Florence.
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