NCDOT is indicating the new bridge may be open this year!
The last girder has been placed and the new Bonner Bridge is now a continuous ribbon of concrete connecting the Northern Outer Banks and Hatteras Island. No firm date yet on when it will open, but NCDOT has indicated December! Sam Walker, writing for the Outer Banks Voice has the story.
Can I get a connection? Last girder laid for new Bonner Bridge.
One of the last four girders is eased into place. (Jamison Padgett)
The final girder for the new Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet was laid on Monday, completing the connection of spans along the $216 million, 2.8-mile-long structure.
A total of 308 prestressed I-beam girders measuring 140 to 160 feet each were hauled by truck or barge from a Coastal Precast facility in Chesapeake to Oregon Inlet.
The beams are part of the 71 approach spans on each side of the navigation area.
3,550 feet of continuous segments known as box girders that are suspended 90 feet above the surface of the inlet and compose the 10 navigation spans, which are 350 feet wide. Their last connection was completed earlier this month.
Massive piers sit at the base of the supports for the navigation span supports that are 8-feet thick, and measure 58-feet by 51-feet.
The old, left, and the new from below. (Rob Morris)
While Monday was another major milestone in the project that started in March 2016, there is still plenty of work left on the bridge, which the N.C. Department of Transportation says is on track to open to traffic by December.
Then comes demolition of the half-century old original Bonner Bridge, which will take about 10 months. Much of the debris will be transported to offshore reef sites.
On the south shore of Oregon Inlet, 1,000 feet of the old span will be left and retrofitted to become a fishing pier.
Ranging in length from 110 feet to 130 feet, 673 pilings have been driven deep into the bottom of the treacherous opening between the Pamlico Sound and Atlantic Ocean as part of the support structures.
The new Bonner Bridge is also the first in North Carolina to use stainless reinforcing steel in its construction.
