Five N.C. Department of Transportation crews work full-time maintaining bridges in the eight-county Division 8, which includes Chatham County, and those crews have had plenty to keep them busy in the last couple of months.
In Chatham County alone, those crews maintain 99 bridges, a figure that doesn’t include culverts and pipes, said Tim Welch, Division 8’s bridge program manager.
Across the entirety of Division 8, which also includes Randolph, Montgomery, Moore, Lee, Richmond, Scotland and Hoke counties, those same five crews – a total of 33 people – maintain 926 bridges.
“Those crews mainly deal with maintenance and repair of bridges,” Welch said. “Removing debris from those bridges is a priority.”
Crews address bridge maintenance needs year-round, on an as-needed basis, Welch said, and the last few months – with two hurricanes and winter weather precipitation creating above-average water levels, and likewise above-average amounts of debris in the three rivers running through Chatham County -- have kept the DOT very busy.
“The biggest problems came after Florence,” Welch said.
Other than the unusual amount of debris crews have been extricating from around bridges in recent weeks, the DOT has encountered no particular problems, in Chatham or elsewhere in the division they serve.
“They’re just behind,” said Welch. “There are no issues or safety concerns for any bridges.”
Welch said he could only guess at how many tons of debris bridge maintenance crews have pulled, usually by crane, from local rivers this year.
But it’s a lot, he confirmed.
“One of my guys said it was the worst he’s ever seen,” Welch said, “and that’s on account of Florence. And when we’ve had so much rain like we’ve had, it makes it even harder.”
Once logjams are removed from bridges, the trees are often chipped and mulched. Some of that mulch is later used in state-maintained flower beds along highways, Welch said.
Although behind because of ongoing demand and challenging weather conditions, Welch said DOT crews are continuing the task.
“They’ll get caught up,” he said. “They always do.”