NCDOT investigating Surf City bridge accident

SURF CITY, NC (WWAY) — The NCDOT is investigating after a large vessel hit the Surf City Swing Bridge Sunday.

DOT Bridge Maintenance Engineer Trevor Carrol said the structure of the bridge was not damaged but the fender system was. Carrol said strong winds and currents caused the captain of a tug boat that was carrying steele to lose control. Town Manager Larry Bergman said they are lucky the fender system did what it was supposed to do.

“Fairly quickly they realized that the traffic could still flow,” Bergman said. “It hadn’t had any major damage to the bridge itself. It was primarily to the wooden structure called bumpers and that’s kind of what their job is intended to do, to protect the bridge.”

Carrol said the DOT will contact the tug boat company about paying for repairs as soon as they evaluate the damage. Construction on a new bridge in Surf City will begin 2017.