Local News - July 2003

Weather delays N.C. 16

By AMY WADSWORTH, Staff Writer

Construction on N.C. 16 south of Lucia, north to N.C. 73, is behind schedule due to poor weather conditions, but the project team is determined to catch up.

“We have got four or five months to make up for because of the rain,” said Kent Staley, project manager with McWhirter Grading Company in Charlotte. “There have only been two weeks since the second week of October where it has not rained.”

Staley said when it rains there is not much the construction crew can accomplish on the 5.8 mile project.

“They can work on erosion control which is when basins catch the water to basically filter it out,” he said. “Work can also be done on the bridge.”

The bridge they are working on now is located at N.C. 16 and Sifford Road. This is one of the eight bridges that need to be constructed.

The construction on N.C. 16 is the first phase of grading which can only be done with no rain.

“We don’t pave, we grade, and then plant grass,” Staley said. “Sometimes it gets paved later by a contractor.”

He said he is positive the construction will be caught up in time to meet the August 2004 deadline.

“It is going to be a lot of long hard hours,” he said. “Once it clears up there will be work being done on Saturdays.”

Staley is praying for sunny weather as the project is completed.

 “We need to make it stop raining,” he said. “Then we can get to work.”

Jackie McSwain, resident engineer with North Carolina Department of Transportation agreed with Staley.

“Due to all the fill material which we need for grading, we have been unable to get it compacted due to the weather,” McSwain said. “We have a lot of catch-up work to do.”

Construction on the highway project began on Aug 27, 2001. The project is an effort to eventually make a four-lane highway connecting Charlotte to Hickory.

The total length of the highway will be 16.4 miles.

There is estimated to be approximately two more phases in order to complete the highway. The second phase will consist of building the stretch from N.C. 73 to St. James Church Road, and the third phase will consist of building the stretch from St. James Church Road to Tower Road in Catawba County.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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