State Transportation Department officials have tapped a Mt. Airy company to make repairs to the Bonner Bridge on Highway 12. The bridge in Dare County which crosses Oregon Inlet will have steel supports called "crutch bends" added to counteract years of sand erosion, or scour, that have weathered the structure.
Pablo Hernandez, an engineer with the state DOT, says the last time this type of repair was done was more than 20 years ago.
"Even though they do have a very durable, technical coating on them, just over time that's going to degrade especially in that environment, especially after the last two hurricane seasons after we've had storms we've noticed the scour," Hernandez says. "So we want to make sure those crutch bends in the event that we need them are as sound as possible."
Hernandez says repairs will begin this fall to avoid the busy summer travel season. The work is scheduled to be complete by February 2014