Currituck Bridge Project Stalled

By Steve Bigham

Currituck Road has been closed to through traffic for nearly five months due to delays in bridge replacement work over Pond Brook between Kenan Road and Obtuse Road.

The two-mile road, which serves as a major connector for commuters traveling north and south, has been closed since late December.

This week, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal explained the reason for the major delay and predicted the project would finally be done by late June. As he pointed out, the bridge was slated to be replaced last August or September. However, the company that produces the new box culvert was unable to deliver the piece until late fall. By that time, the low water season was over, making it very difficult to “de-water” the area. The process of “de-watering” involves channeling water from one side of the bridge to the other.

Town officials agreed they would wait until this summer to complete the project. However, Hurricane Floyd, which hit the area in mid-September, served to further undermine the bridge, creating concern from the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT), which wanted to close the bridge – essentially closing the road.

Instead, town workers stabilized the bridge by putting sandbags under its footings. The effort satisfied the DOT enough to allow the bridge to remain open through the Christmas holidays. By late December, the road was closed and contractors from Warren Kimball & Sons of Newtown converged on the site to begin the “de-watering” process. However, as the months passed by, it became clear that the project would not be completed due to high water levels in Pond Brook.

“They were unable to re-channel the water,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Warren Kimball is now off the job and the town has now gone out for bid for a new contractor – one that uses sheet pilings to overcome and “re-channel” the deep water. Once that is done, Mr Rosenthal said, the task of replacing two box culverts will take little time.