THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 30, 1996 TAG: 9609300040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: 48 lines
The North Carolina Board of Transportation will gather in Raleigh Friday to approve more than $40 million for a new Chowan River bridge on U.S. 17 at Edenton and another $30 million to widen two major highways leading to Outer Banks beaches.
Low or best bids on the projects have been approved for final action by transportation board members, including R.V. Owens III of Dare County.
``The new Chowan River bridge will be a high-rise span four lanes wide. And we'll tear down and completely remove the present two-lane swing bridge,'' said Randy Midgett, an assistant resident engineer for the DOT.
``We won't overhaul the old bridge and use it as part of a new traffic pattern as we've done at other locations,'' Midgett said.
The Transportation Board estimated the cost at $45,633,131.47 to replace the two-lane Chowan River span. But when bids were opened last week, Tidewater Construction Co. of Norfolk said its workers could build a new high-rise, four-lane bridge for $39,165,949.12.
``The Transportation Board usually takes the lowest bid,'' said William Jones, a spokesman for the DOT in Raleigh. If the Tidewater Construction bid is accepted - as expected - it will cost taxpayers 14.2 percent less than the DOT's replacement estimate.
The DOT set a completion date of July 1, 2000, for the new bridge.
Also on Friday, transportation officials will act on another bid to widen to four lanes about 10 miles of U.S. 17 east of the new Chowan River bridge to a point where U.S. 17's business route joins U.S. 17 - the main road east to Hertford.
This stretch of U.S. 17 already is being widened to four lanes from Edenton to the Hertford bypass.
Widening of U.S. 17 east of the new bridge is to be completed by Dec. 31, 1999, the DOT said.
Transportation board members also will select one of two paving companies bidding on widening five miles of N.C. 168 in Currituck County between Sligo and Barco, where N.C. 168 joins U.S. 158 en route to the Outer Banks beaches.
The DOT's estimate of the widening costs is $10,654,653.40.
Barnhill Contracting of Tarboro submitted a low bid of $11,951,547.43 for the job. Rose Brothers Paving Co. of Ahoskie estimated it would cost $12,161,393.37 to finish the work by June 1, 1999.
The transportation board will convene at 9 a.m. Friday in the Transportation Building in Raleigh to check out and ultimately approve the bids. by CNB