By Bill Poteat for THE PAPER
Work on the new Castle Bridge spanning Lake Rhodhiss between Burke and Caldwell counties has temporarily stalled, but the interruption is expected to be short lived.
The issue, according M.B. Houck, assistant resident engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation, is that lake levels aren’t currently high enough to meet environmental standards for the use of large barges in the lake.
“When you’ve got a large barge and a large crane on that barge, it is going to draft a lot of water,” Houck explained. “We’re going to be talking to Duke Energy about perhaps raising the water level or seeing if some of the environmental study needs to be redone to not reflect the water level at full pond.”
The autumn and early winter have been exceptionally dry across Western North Carolina, meaning that lake levels throughout the Catawba River system are somewhat down.
“Once these issues are resolved, I would expect fairly rapid progress,” Houck said, “given the scope of work on the project.”
During construction, vehicles will continue to use the existing bridge, now 64 years old.
The new bridge will be built just west — upstream of the current structure. It will be built to modern standards with one 12-foot lane in each direction. The new bridge will also have a protected 10-foot lane for use by walkers and bikers.
Once the new bridge is completed and traffic is shifted, the old bridge and its supporting piers will be demolished.
The contractor for the project is the Wilmington-based company, Balfour Beatty Construction. The project is expected to cost around $32 million, which includes the cost of construction of the new bridge and removing the old one.
The replacement is part of the broader R-3430 corridor project, which aims to improve roughly 10 miles of Malcolm Boulevard/Connelly Springs Road from U.S. 70 in Burke County to Southwest Boulevard in Caldwell County. While only the Castle Bridge section is currently funded, the plan leaves room for a separate northbound bridge to be added in the future if traffic demands require it.
Castle Bridge is one of the busiest bridges in the area. Connelly Springs Road is utilized by many southern Caldwell County residents as the quickest route to Interstate 40, while many central Burke County residents cross the bridge enroute to the Ingles Market in Baton.
Bill Poteat is editor emeritus. He may be reached at 828-445-8595 or bill@thepaper.media.