FAYETTEVILLE — Robeson County is in line to get five new bridges out of seven that will be built in that county and Bladen and Columbus.
According to the N.C. Department of Transportation, the contracts went to:
— S&C Construction LLC of Wilmington for $2.3 million to replace two Robeson County bridges over Jackson Swamp on Judge Road and Back Swamp on South Chicken Road; and one Bladen County bridge over Crawley Swamp on Center Road.
— E.S. Wagner Co. LLC. of Piedmont, S.C., for $1.9 million to replace three Robeson County bridges, over Leith Creek on N.C. 83, over First Swamp on McLeod Drive and over Burnt Swamp on Evergreen Church Road.
— The Tara Group of Lumberton for $520,434 to replace a Columbus County bridge over Cedar Creek on Peacock Road, southeast of Chadbourn.
Most of the bridges were built in the 1950s, and one was erected in 1947. Although still safe, all are structurally deficient, which means they have aging components, require costly maintenance and may have limits on vehicle weights or low clearances. Some no longer meet the demands of today’s traffic.
These were among 16 highway and bridge project contracts recently awarded by the Transportation Department. They were worth approximately $204.5 million, about $13 million under estimates.