Redwood Road Emergency Culvert Replacement

Replacing Large Pipes and Repairing Roadway in a Reservoir
Durham County, North Carolina

Hurricane Matthew destroyed a portion of Redwood Road in Durham, North Carolina, and caused a culvert under the road to fail at the causeway over Panther Creek, in the backwater of the Falls Lake Reservoir. The road was almost completely breeched, so the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) took emergency action to protect and stabilize the causeway. Under an on-call contract, we performed a quick study and were able to recommend and design a solution that helped NCDOT minimize environmental impacts to the area. 

105

foot-long box beam bridge

We performed planning, National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) coordination, permitting support, utility coordination, construction study, and bridge and roadway design services for replacement of the existing double 10-foot metal pipes with a new 105-foot-long box beam bridge on Redwood Road. The bridge channel excavated through the causeway created a new recreational boating access to Panther Creek. The project included the relatively rare use of wet-excavation methods in the open waters of a reservoir permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the final design continued access for a state-designated primary recreational hiking and biking routes (including the popular Mountains-to-Sea Trail) and to an adjacent wildlife preserve. 

Client

NCDOT

Cost

$80,000

Services

  • Engineering
  • Environmental
  • Planning, Consulting and Advisory

Markets

  • Transportation

Regions

  • Southeast