RALEIGH - N.C. Department of
Transportation Secretary Gene Conti has awarded a contract to replace the Lakewood
Road bridge over the South Fork Catawba River in Cramerton.
The $4 million contract was awarded
to Lee Construction Company of the Carolinas, Inc. of Charlotte. Work can begin
as early as Oct. 1, and must be completed by April 30, 2014.
There will be an off-site detour route. Traffic will take Lakewood Road to
U.S. 29/74 to Market Street to Eighth Avenue to get around the project.
The bridge was built in 1950 and is
deemed both functionally obsolete and structurally deficient. This does not
mean the bridge is unsafe, but there are elements of the bridge that need to be
monitored to maintain its structural integrity, and its layout no longer meets
current design standards for width, shoulders or rails.
The new bridge will be able to
accommodate larger vehicles than the current bridge. By replacing it, NCDOT
will improve motorist safety, make travel more efficient and help the local
transportation network last longer.
This is one of 18 contracts
totaling $205.8 million awarded by Conti in August for highway and bridge
projects across North Carolina. NCDOT awarded the contracts to the lowest
bidders, as required by state law. The bids received on the projects awarded
came in about 15.4 percent, or $37.4 million, below NCDOT estimates.
Since Gov. Bev Perdue took office
in January of 2009, NCDOT has awarded 697 highway contracts totaling $4.9
billion to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to jobs and
educational opportunities. Gov. Perdue continues to support immediate jobs in
the construction sector and the goal of ensuring that our transportation
network facilitates access to jobs, education and healthcare for the future.