70-year-old Elizabeth City drawbridge has five years to go

Posted to: News Transportation and Traffic North Carolina

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The Pasquotank River bridge is one of 15 drawbridges remaining in the state. The older eastbound bridge exiting downtown Elizabeth City will be replaced. (Chris Curry | The Virginian-Pilot)

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Plans are to keep two lanes of traffic open during the project, which is expected to start in 2013 and take two years. The older eastbound bridge, above, will be replaced. The westbound bridge will remain as is, according to the project engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 18, 2008

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.

Parts of Elizabeth Street built on pilings about 70 years ago and the aging eastbound bridge over the Pasquotank River are set for replacement for $50 million, but construction is still five years off.

Plans are to keep two lanes of traffic open during the project, which is expected to start in 2013 and take two years. State highway officials described the project Tuesday at the Museum of the Albemarle.

The Pasquotank River bridge is one of 15 drawbridges remaining in the state, said Jerry Higgins, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The older eastbound bridge exiting downtown Elizabeth City will be replaced. It was built in the mid-1930s.

The three-lane westbound bridge entering downtown Elizabeth City from Camden County will remain as is, said Teresa Gresham, project engineer for NCDOT. The westbound bridge was built in the mid-1970s.

About 1,700 pleasure craft pass through the Pasquotank River annually, most heavily

during the "snowbird" seasons when boaters travel south for the winter and north for the summer. A few barges carrying loads from local lumber yards use the river.

T raffic occasionally backs up for several blocks in town. A high-rise bridge that would eliminate closures would be too long, blocking access to several businesses along Elizabeth Street in town and a condominium complex on the Camden side, Gresham said.

Elizabeth Street, five lanes wide including a center turn lane, was built on a marshy area near the old Poindexter Creek, once a tributary to the Pasquotank River.

Tests show that old juniper pilings remain solid below the asphalt, said Jerry Jennings, an Edenton-based engineer for the state highway department. M ore tests are expected.

The street has settled unevenly around the pilings, leaving small sinkholes and lumps in the road, especially near Road Street, about four blocks from the river. Plans are to reinforce the understructure and repave the road.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com