Cape Fear Memorial Bridge repairs on schedule as engineer announces retirement

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As February draws to a close and work on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge continues, one of the most familiar faces associated with the bridge repairs made an announcement.

Chad Kimes, NCDOT Division Engineer, announced his retirement on Wednesday afternoon at the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.

Kimes is the Division Engineer for the NCDOT Highway Division 3. He has been the primary point of contact for all information regarding the repair work on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

According to Kimes, the decision to retire is one he made last year but decided to wait a closer to the retirement date to announce it publicly. He will continue working with the NCDOT and the WMPO until September 1. His replacement has not yet been named.

Also at the meeting, Kimes announced bridge repairs are right on schedule. There are 12 bays of grid decks that need to be repaired and work is beginning on the fifth bay of grid decks. This means work on the eastbound lanes should be complete by April, in time for the North Carolina Azalea Festival.

Luke Waddell, vice chair of the WMPO, says this is great news.

“The work is happening. It’s happening at or faster than scheduled,” said Waddell. “The weather’s been cooperating and DOT really understands and is all hands on deck, no pun intended, to get the job done.”

For more information on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge repairs, click here.