LUMBERTON – Several crossline pipes along a 7-mile swath of Tar Heel Road in Robeson County are being replaced before the road is resurfaced.
“These pipes are reaching the end of their lifespans, and we want to pro-actively replace them before they cause drainage problems,” said Brice Bell, the Robeson County maintenance engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation.
A total of 20 sites will be upgraded with new drainage pipes starting from where Tar Heel Road begins at N.C. 41 outside Lumberton to the Robeson-Bladen County line. Some of the new pipes will be larger than the ones they are replacing.
Departmental maintenance crews are doing one site at a time and closing only that location for about a week. They are prioritizing sites and doing work based on when materials can be delivered, so they are not following a pattern along the road.
The work recently began and will last through the fall. Drivers should slow down and be cautious traveling on Tar Heel Road while the culverts are being upgraded.
After the work is completed, an NCDOT contractor will resurface and restripe the road to improve the driving surface. The repaving is scheduled to be completed by next spring.
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