On August 27^th, 2011, hurricane Irene assaulted the coast of North Carolina, and caused a breach in the coastline near Rodanthe. This breach has destroyed the only road, NC-12, that gives residents and visitors access to the island. It is essential that access to the island be restored and Mabey Bridge & Shore, Inc. was there to lend a hand to the residents and patrons of North Carolina in this trying time.

 

Mabey Bridge & Shore, Inc. had a man on the ground to assess the situation within 24 hours. Due to their expertise and good relationship with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Mabey Bridge & Shore’s product specialist, Jeff Dippel, was able to work with NCDOT to create the exact configuration that would work best for the situation. Once the plan was decided Peter Oare and Mabey Bridge & Shore’s team of engineers were able to get the preliminary details to NCDOT within two hours of the request.

 

After working over the holiday weekend the first trucks left Mabey’s Baltimore Depot on Tuesday, September 6^th and were scheduled to arrive at the site Wednesday morning. NCDOT is also utilizing approximately 65 of Mabey Bridge & Shore’s DuraBase ® mats to help the contractors machinery access the unstable and environmentally sensitive site in order to erect the 650 foot long Mabey Universal Bridge to span the gap. North Carolina’s governor, Bev Perdue, has mandated that the bridge be in place and operational by October 1^st. In order to deploy the bridge as quickly as possible Mabey Bridge & Shore has worked with NCDOT to develop a shipping schedule that will keep materials readily available to them until the bridge is complete.

 

The bridge itself is a two lane Mabey Universal Bridge manufactured by Mabey Bridge Ltd. The versatility and strength of the Mabey Universal Bridge made it an ideal choice for this project. The modular design allows the bridge to be erected quickly, allowing traffic to resume flowing, while the strength and durability allow the bridge to remain in place as long as necessary while NCDOT devises a plan to permanently repair the Damage done to NC-12.