Construction in
North Carolina
New
Span
to the
Sea
Here's that loii"-a\vaile«l
bridge to Hogue Hanks,
and not a moment too
soon!
Shown here os construction neared completion is the new Boguc Sound 8ridge ot its point ol highest
•erticol clcoroncc. The wooden structure ot wotcr lc*el marks one edge ol the Introcoostol Woter-
■0»,
which hos a horiiontol clcoroncc ol 92 lect between bridge piers. T. A Lo.mg Construction
Compony was gcncrol contractor, ond Paul Yount wos protect superintendent, i photo by Powell
Studios I
Hi/ KILL WKIGIIT
At the highest point of the new
Bogue Sound Bridge you are 67 feet
above the water. The view here is a
feast for the eyes and a song for the
soul.
Looking back toward the mainland,
the lawns of Cape Carteret reach out
from the shade trees to form a neat
green border at the water’s very edge.
Off to your right is the cluster of
green islets in Bogue Inlet, with Bear
Island rising just beyond. To your left
spreads an eye-filling pattern of water,
green marshes and white sand; and
looking beyond the newly-abandoned
State ferry landing, you catch glimpses
of summer cottages at Emerald Isle,
half hidden by the trees.
Straight ahead lies the ocean, sepa¬
rated from Bogue Sound only by the
narrow bank — high and wooded —
which is the undeveloped portion of
Emerald Isle. Sightseers can thank
Jim Norris. State Bridge Engineer, for
designing the bridge with low guard
rails, so there would be no walls to
obstruct the view.
In its own way the bridge is also a
thing of beauty — a vision of symme¬
try and grace, rising gradually from the
wooded waterside to soar for a while
and finally settle back to earth.
Newly Opened
Among the more than a dozen
bridges that connect North Carolina’s
mainland with the Outer Banks, the
dimensions of the Bogue Sound Bridge
Stack up well, but arc not record-
breaking: slightly less than a mile wide
(4,526 feet); 67 feet vertical and 92
feet horizontal clearance, which is
about standard for Inland Waterway
traffic; costing just under S3 million,
which is a modest enough sum com¬
pared with present levels of govern¬
ment spending.
Construction credits go to the T. A.
Loving Company, of Goldsboro, who
have been general contractors for many
of North Carolina's coastal bridges
( most recently they completed the new
bridge to Topsail Island). Barrus Con¬
struction Co., of Kinston, constructed
the bridge approaches, which on the
mainland join N.C. 24 about five miles
cast of Swansboro. and then run north
to connect with N.C. 58. On its island
end, the bridge enters several miles
west of the old ferry, and its approach
curves to meet the newly paved Emer¬
ald Isle road which runs west to Bogue
Inlet and eastward to join the main
Emerald Isle Development, thence to
Salter Path and Atlantic Beach —
some twenty miles away — where it
Acfiol »iew by Powell Studios shows the typicol situotion of North Corolino's coostol geography.
The mainland I Cope Cortcrct' lie* just out of view ot the bottom of tho photo. The tiny islands
ond morshes form on interesting pattern in Bogue Sound. Boguc Bonks is the heo>ily- wooded
norrow strip which lies odioccnt to the oceon beyond, here a newly de»cloped port of Emerald Isle.
Bogue Inlet, which lies before Swansboro, is out of the picture to the rcoder's right. < photo by
Powell Studio»
THE STATE. JULY 1. 197
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