Photos by AERO 158 Drone Photography

You can catch NC 12 at Whalebone Junction in Nags Head and head south to Bodie Island Lighthouse, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and communities of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras, and finally, Ocracoke by ferry. These tourism-dependent villages have only one link to the mainland of the northern Outer Banks. Each of these communities offers individual histories and personalities of their own, like beautiful, perfect pearls on a necklace of barrier islands down the east coast of North Carolina.

The string linking the pearls of this necklace is North Carolina State Highway 12, their panoramic access, their lifeline, their backbone. Breach this connection, and their survival is in jeopardy, at least for a while. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has a way of raising her hand and seas to us periodically, breaking this fragile string of pearls and reclaiming what is hers. Numerous hurricanes and bad storms have left their marks on NC 12. They have caused the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Dare County, and the Federal Highway Administration to go back to the drawing board for improvements in NC 12 designs to help revive its increased importance in the 21st Century. Fortunately, the costs of these projects are split 80% federally and 20% for the state.

Suppose you’ve been following this fantastic transformation of NC 12 from the start. In that case, you know that Phase I of this project was completed with the new Marc Basnight Bridge opening in 2019, which replaced the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge and carries NC 12 over Oregon Inlet between Hatteras and Bodie islands. The Basnight Bridge is designed to fill needs well into the 21st Century. It will better withstand the elements of this coastal environment. By using high-durability concrete, stainless reinforcing steel, and other engineering features, this new bridge should have a 100-year life span. In addition, it will provide more options for navigation under the bridge.

Currently underway is Phase II of the NC 12, which encompasses the new “Jug Handle Bridge” and provides an elevated roadway over the area formerly known as the “S-Curves.” This location is from the southern portion of the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge to northern Rodanthe. The buffering dunes are typically breached by ocean overwash in numerous storms, which, in turn, curtail the highway’s viability for travel, transportation, and supplies for the communities further south. The plans indicate that installing this elevated, 2.4-mile Jug Handle Bridge over the Pamlico Sound, combined with ongoing beach nourishment programs, should prevent further roadway travel compromise. 

According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fourth National Climate Assessment, global sea levels could rise 1 ft. to 4 ft. during the 21st Century. Such foresight as these additions to NC 12 will increase its longevity and viability as vital access to these villages of the Outer Banks. 

The key objectives of this new Rodanthe Bridge are to ensure safe and reliable passage for travelers and a critical evacuation route for hurricanes and provide better traffic flows among the Outer Banks communities, beaches, and protected areas. This bridge will also serve as a long-term solution to erosion caused by multiple hurricanes that have battered the coast of the Outer Banks in recent years.

The view from this new bridge promises to be magnificent! Atop the gantries being used in the construction of the Rodanthe Bridge in North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound, you can look across the sands of Hatteras Island and see the Atlantic Ocean waves pounding the shoreline next to two-lane NC Route 12. It is a blatant reminder of exactly why North Carolina’s Department of Transportation is spending $145 million to construct this 2.4 mile-long section of elevated road.

This vulnerable corridor was long overdue for high-level highway management, given its precarious and volatile location. Before commencing this project, NCDOT instigated studies of erosion patterns using a combination of color and near-infrared aerial photography, digital terrain models, storm data, and other various data inputs. Areas of principal concern were where island width had shrunk to less than 1,000 ft., dune crest elevation less than 10 ft. above the centerline of NC 12, and areas where the shoreline is less than 230 ft. from the pavement. The scope of the Jug Handle Bridge met all of these criteria, according to NCDOT Project Manager John Conforti.

and platform cranes to straddle the newly constructed bridge, which substantially decreased results. While the new bridge is nearly 13,000 feet long, the rail system will only be 3,000 linear feet at any one time, as it uses previously constructed sections of the bridge for access. Building the bridge using this innovative “Advancing Rail System” or leap‐frog technique and creating the structure from a North and South heading will accelerate the project schedule and mitigate possible delays.

The construction contract for the Rodanthe Jug Handle Bridge was awarded to Flatiron Construction Company, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, with the East Coast Division Office in Morrisville, North Carolina. Adrian Price is the Flatiron Project Manager for this project and lives locally in the Outer Banks for its duration. Mr. Price shows great pride in the proprietary items Flatiron has developed and used in this project. A specific construction technique that would minimize the footprint of impacts on the environment is an innovative “Advancing Rail System” that would allow gantry and platform cranes to straddle the newly constructed bridge, which substantially decreased results. While the new bridge is nearly 13,000 feet long, the rail system will only be 3,000 linear feet at any one time, as it uses previously constructed sections of the bridge for access. Building the bridge using this innovative “Advancing Rail System” or leap‐frog technique and creating the structure from a North and South heading will accelerate the project schedule and mitigate possible delays. 

With the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the required environmental studies revealed twenty state or federally-listed protected species and a designated submerged aquatic vegetation habitat near the project. Extensive measures of precaution needed to be taken to minimally impact the local animal and plant life affected by this bridge construction.

The Rodanthe Bridge is near one of the most significant contiguous seagrass habitats along the eastern United States. The seagrass habitat here is extraordinary. It serves as a primary nursery area for many marine species. In addition, it provides abundant recreational opportunities for residents and tourists from around the world. This is an environmentally sensitive area, and as such, requires deliberate and sensitive mitigation to maintain its fragile balance.

To address this, the Flatiron team used the minimum number of vertically driven piles in the bridge’s north approach spans, near where the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is located. They also used lights during nighttime construction that minimize light pollution and its impact on turtle life.

Pablo Hernandez is the NCDOT Project Manager for the Rodanthe phase of this project and the Oregon Inlet phase. His office in Manteo. According to Mr. Hernandez, the Rodanthe segment is 83% completed as of the end of July.

In addition to the Jug Handle, there are other hot spots of ocean breach along NC Route 12, which will need to be addressed in the future for long-term safety and viability remedies. Still, for now, NC 12 has some outstanding views from her newest high roads.

Rebecca Orr is a 5-year Midwestern transplant to the Outer Banks. She is happily living her long-held dream of being a writer and a poet as she contemplates the sea, the sand, and the stars.