On The Road To Normalcy

When Hurricane Irene went through this area, the ocean wiped out a substantial portion of Highway 12 that links Hatteras Island to the mainland. The section of Highway 12 that was totally washed away was just North of Rodanthe.

On Monday 10/10 just prior to 6PM, the new temporary bridge was opened to traffic and once again Hatteras Island was linked to the mainland.

An 8 man crew put in 30 days and 15,000 man hours to build 662-foot engineering feat spanning a 200-foot channel just north of Rodanthe.

Jerry Jennings, an NCDOT engineer, said the project cost an estimated $11 million to $12 million. Though temporary, the bridge is expected to last a decade or more.

For additional information on the damage done by Hurricane Irene and the building of this new temporary bridge, please read the following articles:

PilotOnline.com

USAToday

In the USA Today article, you can see a photo taken of the washed away highway that effected the entire are from Rodanthe South including Hatteras Island.

This road should help those effected by Hurricane Irene in returning their lives to some sort of normalcy.