With goals of helping farmers and community members, Sampson County is one of 17 counties in North Carolina scheduled to have bridge improvements thanks to a government grant.
The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) recently announced that the state won a $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace bridges in rural communities in the state’s most economically distressed areas. The funds are coming from the BUILD (Better Utilizing Improvements to Leverage Development) Transportation Discretionary Grant program and will be added to state funding.
According to NCDOT, 77 bridges will be repaired in North Carolina. That list includes eight in Sampson County, totaling $9.41 million. The locations are U.S. 13, South River Overflow; S.R. 1004, Crane Creek; S.R. 1002, Ceasar Swamp; S.R. 1455, Ceasar Swamp; S.R. 1703, Merkle Swamp; S.R. 1706, Kill Creek; S.R. 1804, Sevenmile Swamp; and S.R. 1703, Beaverdam Creek.
The first scheduled project in Sampson County is on U.S. 13 over the South River Overflow, with a contract award date of May 2019. Estimated construction time is 12 months. Throughout 2019, more contracts will be distributed for construction. Contracts to perform the bridge replacements will be awarded during the next two years and most projects will less than a year to complete.
The bridges selected serve communities with significant agriculture and agribusiness interests. Many of the are weight-restricted which limits use by large trucks or buses taking children to school. Most of the bridges in the counties are more than 50 years old.
“Good infrastructure is a critical lifeline for our rural communities and agriculture as ag products move from the field to consumers and overseas markets,” stated Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Improving these bridges will help reduce costs for agricultural haulers, which will help our farmers save money and be more competitive.”
Ronnie Jackson, president of Sampson County Friends of Agriculture, showed support for the NCDOT project.
“If we have some weight restricted bridges in the county, it will be of great benefit to replace them with new bridges that will handle loaded tractor trailer trucks to avoid having to reroute around them,” Jackson said. “The biggest beneficiaries would be the hog and poultry industry which have many more trucks on the road hauling feed and live animals.”
In addition to Sampson, the other counties included are Alexander, Allegheny, Beaufort, Duplin, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hyde, Iredell, Nash, Northampton, Pitt, Surry, Wayne, Wilkes, Wilson, and Yadkin. The oldest structures includes a 97-year-old bridge in Alexander County and a 98-year-old bridge in Wilson County.
The overall cost is projected at $119.1 million, with the State Highway Bridge Fund paying for 58 of the structures. The BUILD grant is covering the cost of 19 weight-restricted bridges that could not be replaced with state money.
“These extra funds will allow North Carolina to replace key bridges in rural areas to help farmers, industry, schools and communities,” Gov. Roy Cooper stated in a news release. “These bridges will be rebuilt better and smarter, to include flood monitoring and create more opportunities to expand broadband in areas that need it most.”
With sensors, the new bridges will be constructed to include weather or flood monitors to help provide better data and warnings about potential hazards. Information will be sent to the state’s Flood Inundation and Alert Mapping Network. Residents may sign up to receive alerts at fiman.nc.gov. Each bridge replaced will also include conduit to allow for future expansion of broadband fiber, decreasing the cost to provide broadband service to rural and underserved areas.