Outer Banks Times

Pile driving for the Rodanthe "Jug Handle" Bridge Project should be completed this fall and winter, with the project's conclusion expected in fall 2021.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation planned the bridge as a long-term transportation solution for N.C. 12 on the Outer Banks. The project raises the highway onto a 2.4-mile bridge that extends over Pamlico Sound between the southern end of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and Rodanthe, NCDOT reported.

Depending on weather and equipment, work planned through Oct. 26 includes steel pipe pile installation for work trestle on the south end, with pile-driving conducted between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday to Sunday.

Concrete cylinder piles will be driven for bridge piling approximately 1,200 feet to 1,375 feet from the shoreline. Cap concrete placements will be placed and girders set at least 1,200 feet from the shoreline.

Bridge deck concrete placements will be done at night or early morning for a section of the bridge 1,125 feet to 1,00 feet from the shoreline.

On the north end much of the work will be closer to the shoreline, NCDOT reported. The steel pipe installation will be 750 to 500 feet into the water, with track girders installed as individual steel pipe clusters are installed. Expect pile driving at times between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The bridge piling work will be from 80 feet in the water from the north shoreline to on land 600 feet from that shoreline.

Cap concrete will be placed and girders set 200 feet to 725 feet from the shoreline. Bridge deck concrete will be placed between 325 and 725 feet from the shoreline.

The next virtual public meeting to offer project updates will be Dec. 3 from 6-8 p.m., with access details to come.