Concrete bridge will replace steel on Outer Banks

KITTY HAWK – The North Carolina Department of Transportation is preparing to build a temporary concrete bridge for N.C. 12 on Pea Island, to replace a temporary steel bridge erected four years ago.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports the project also will give engineers time to devise a solution to protect the Outer Banks highway from rough weather and rising seas.

T.A. Loving Co. of Goldsboro is expected to get the contract after bidding $14.2 million. The project on the 2,300-foot-long bridge is scheduled to be completed by spring 2017.

Transportation officials had begun building a $59 million bridge in the same place last year, however the plan was scrapped as part of a deal with conservation groups.