$2.6 million in contracts awarded for Union County bridges

UNION COUNTY – The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded two construction contracts, valued at $2.6 million, for contractors to replace bridges in Indian Trail and Monroe, according to a DOT news release.

The DOT awarded a $1.6 million contract to Blythe Construction Inc. of Charlotte to replace the existing bridge on Poplin Road over South Fork Crooked Creek in Indian Trail, and awarded a $1 million contract to Dellinger Inc. of Monroe to replace the existing bridge on N.C. 200 over Chinkapin Creek, just north of Monroe.

Work on both projects may begin as soon as April 28, according to the DOT. The Monroe bridge work is slated to be finished by Nov. 1 and the Indian Trail project is set to finish on Nov. 15.

During construction on the bridge over South Fork Crooked Creek, traffic will be detoured from Poplin Road to Rocky River Road and Unionville-Indian Trail Road before rerouting back to Poplin Road. Reforestation and vegetation establishment can continue on that project through May 14, 2015.

During work on the Chinkapin Creek bridge, traffic will be detoured from N.C. 200 to Old Camden Road and New Salem Road then back to N.C. 200 after crossing the creek. Reforestation and vegetation establishment will be allowed to continue through April 30, 2015, the DOT said in the release.

These are two of the 25 road and bridge contracts worth $71 million recently awarded by N.C. DOT for projects across the state. The contracts were awarded to the lowest bidders, as required by state law. The low bids received on the projects were 1.2 percent, or $845,000, below DOT estimates, the release said.