NCDOT strengthens roads and bridges resiliency to prepare for future storms
LUMBERTON, NC (WWAY-TV) — The North Carolina Department of Transportation is investing in projects across the state aimed at making roads and bridges more resilient as hurricanes and extreme weather events become more severe.
According to NCDOT officials, the effort gained momentum following Hurricane Florence in 2018, which caused widespread flooding and damage across southeastern North Carolina.
“We realize we’re seeing bigger and bigger storms,” said NCDOT spokesman Andrew Barksdale.
Barksdale said Florence served as a turning point for the department’s approach to infrastructure planning.
“It was so devastating to southeastern North Carolina, the department realized it needed to do even more to harden our infrastructure. And we needed to ramp up those efforts,” he said.
In response, NCDOT established a resiliency policy designed to help roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure better withstand future storms.
“It really helps guide our decisions when we are designing new roads and bridges and culverts,” Barksdale said. “It’s kind of an increased mindset that resiliency is something that we need to plan for, budget for.”
One of NCDOT’s largest resiliency projects is underway in Lumberton, where crews are raising the Interstate 95 bridge over the Lumber River by 12 feet. The project also includes widening that section of I-95 to eight lanes.
“I-95 is the main street on the East Coast,” Barksdale said. “We have a lot of people traveling through our state. It is a hurricane evacuation route.”
The bridge flooded following Hurricane Matthew in 2016, forcing the closure of a critical transportation corridor.
“It took up to a week or more before the waters receded,” Barksdale said. “In fact, in Matthew, we had to do some quick repairs after the water had receded before we could reopen the interstate.”
Construction on the I-95 project is expected to be completed in 2029.
Closer to the Cape Fear region, NCDOT recently completed a bridge replacement project over the Calabash River in Brunswick County, an area that experienced flooding during Hurricanes Matthew and Ian.
The new bridge stands seven feet higher than the previous structure and is nearly twice as long, stretching almost the length of two football fields.
“The hurricane season is upon us and we know it just takes one major storm for it to be very impactful,” Barksdale said.
