May 18, 2013
Contractors will soon begin shoring up a cluster of pilings on the Herbert C. Bonner bridge's south side.
Department of Transportation officials say currents in Oregon Inlet have scooped away part of the sand around the base of a group of pilings near the wooden fendered channel. The DOT says there's still plenty of support to the columns that are seeing erosion, but the sand bagging that will begin in the next few weeks will keep further damage to a minimum. Intercoastal Diving Incorporated out of Wilmington, will place about 700 giant concrete jacks around 5000 cubic yards of sand in the area. The depth of the inlet floor there is about 55 feet deep, where normally it should be only about 35 feet deep. The project should cost 1.4 million dollars and take 180 days to complete.
