Reconstruction of a bridge that is part of a crucial hurricane evacuation route in Brunswick County has been completed and earlier than anticipated.
The new bridge now spanning the Calabash River opened to traffic Thursday, according to the North Carolina Department Transportation.
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Taller and longer than the original bridge built in 1975, the new bridge on Beach Drive SW was temporarily closed through several coastal storms, some of which prompted emergency repairs and additional maintenance.
“This is a critical route for our beach communities, which have endured a detour while the bridge was being constructed to modern standards,” NCDOT Division 3 Engineer Trevor Carroll said in a news release. “Because making our infrastructure more resilient against future flooding is a goal for our Department, it was important to design and build a new bridge that will better serve and protect this fast-growing area of the county.”
The two-lane bridge is designed to improve the flow of hurricane evacuation traffic, according to NCDOT. It is wider, rises about seven feet higher over the river, and is more than twice as long as the old bridge. A new, multi-use path runs alongside the new bridge to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians.
Construction on the more than $9 million project began in the summer of 2023. The bridge has been closed since around Labor Day of that year.
NCDOT agreed to a $750,000 incentive to Wilmington-based contractor S&C Construction LLC to finish the new bridge by May 1 as tourism season approaches and a month before the 2025 hurricane season kicks off.
