Third of N.C. bridges need repairs

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- Nearly a third of the bridges in North Carolina are in need of repair; there is fear they won't pass inspection.

"Today, you have more heavy trucks," said Stacy Cooke with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Where we simply see traffic, bridge maintenance engineers see problems with the everyday vehicles of today.

"A truck that would have made deliveries many years ago would not weigh as much as our large tractor trailers today," said Cooke.

Wear and tear is one reason why the North Carolina DOT considers 19 bridges "structurally deficient" in Gaston County alone.

"They may have timber parts to them underneath the bridge to actually support the bridge. When wood rots we have to go make some replacements," added Cooke.

In Gaston County, the Cox Road Bridge, two Dallas-Bessemer City Highway bridges and the US 74 Bridge over the Catawba River are among the list of problem structures.

"The real problem is that the state legislature in North Carolina is constantly raiding the highway trust fund and they are not putting money into repair of our own bridges and roads," said Tom Crosby, a spokesperson with AAA of the Carolinas.

Funding is tight and instead of replacing bridges, DOT crews do patch work to keep the structures safe enough to where they stay open.

"In reality, a lot of them need to be replaced," Cooke said.

State inspectors do a full review of each bridge every two years in North Carolina.

If a bridge is an imminent danger, they will close it down.