GRANITE FALLS, NC (April 23, 2017)…We spent some time speaking with NCDOT officials at a public meeting recently about the upcoming road projects in our area and there are many. We focused most of our questions about the Falls Avenue Bridge over the Old Mill Pond in Granite Falls.
The NCDOT is finalizing the plans for the bridge currently. The contract for the new bridge was awarded to R.E. Burns & Sons Co., Inc. of Statesville at a cost of $3,209,934.00. NCDOT officials told us that this contractor has a superb reputation in bridge building. They also told us that all required permits have been obtained.
Demolition is slated to begin in May and construction in June. The NCDOT is still hoping to see construction completed by the end of the year but have cautioned that it could run into early 2018.
While no specific details were available about the design of the bridge, we did find out that the new bridge may be approximately 40 feet wide (compared to the old bridge being approximately 24 feet wide) and there may be a sidewalk on the downstream side of the bridge that would tie in nicely to the new wildlife access area if a sidewalk was constructed from Dam Street down to the new bridge.
If you have a question, feel free to contact me at: mark.jackson@caldwelljournal.com and I will do my best to find an answer for you.