Bridges: Connecting the Outer Banks

THERESA SCHNEIDER PHOTO

The William B. Umstead Bridge connects the north end of Roanoke Island to the Dare County mainland.

by Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy

mhgm@thecoastlandtimes.com For the longest time, Outer Banks “It took local initiative and daring and private investment to begin the long residents traveled by small boat across inland waters. and costly process of making the Outer Banks accessible at last, but today But in 1927, Dare County leaders started the long campaign to build bridges there are fi ve beautiful modern bridges in or connecting with Dare County . . .” connecting Dare County to its far-flung boundaries, to North Carolina and to the David Stick, “Dare County: A History.” 1970. world. That year, the county’s Board of The toll was a quarter. across Currituck Sound. Commissioners passed a resolution to In 1962, a new bridge was officially In 1915, the State Highway build a causeway connecting Roanoke dedicated to “Wash” Baum. In 1994, a Commission, the precursor to today’s Island with Nags Head. To finance the replacement bridge was dedicated and Department of Transportation, was creproject, the board floated a bond issue again Washington F. Baum was rememated. It wasn’t until after the Depression and built the bridge. bered. The new bridge is 82 feet high, and World War II that the state agency Washington Franklin Baum, a county eliminating the need for a draw. started paying much attention northeast commissioner from Wanchese, pushed The Wright Memorial Bridge, Dare North Carolina. for that new connecting bridge. In 1928, County Bridge No. 16, opened Sept. 27, The State Highway Commission purthe newly built draw bridge was opened. 1930. Local businessmen built this woodchased both toll bridges and made those en bridge that opened up bridges free. northern Dare County to In 1955, the commission started Dare Beating the toll visitors. The bridge conCounty Bridge No. 9. The connection

“In 1927, each person used to be charged a toll of 25 cents to nected mainland Currituck between Manns Harbor on the Dare cross the bridge over Roanoke Sound. That was when the bridge was first built. In order to beat the toll some of us would hide in County to Kitty Hawk. County mainland and the north end of the rumble seat of my Model-T. Some 36 years later, Roanoke Island was completed in 1956.

“One time Rondal Lewark and I were shut up in there, and the wooden bridge was Called the William B. Umstead the others could not open the seat when we arrived on the other replaced. In 1997, a parallel Memorial Bridge, this structure brought side of the bridge. We had to ride all the way to Kitty Hawk span, Dare County Bridge U.S. 64 across the Croatan Sound. The before they could get us out. No. 35, was completed. Umstead bridge was the biggest state

“We were headed to the Soundside Pavilion where Capt. The Wright Memorial project of the 1950s, reports NCDOT. Dan Hayman ran a dance hall. I thought that we would smother before we got there.” Bridge carries NC 158 William Bradley Umstead, May 13,

“Memories of Manteo and Roanoke Island, N.C. as told by Cora Mae Basnight,” by Susanne Tate. 1988

MARY HELEN GOODLOE-MURPHY PHOTO

In 2007, all seven Ocracoke Island bridges were replaced at one time. The project shut down NC 12 starting Jan. 2, 2008. During the project, only fourwheel-drive vehicles were permitted to drive a beach route between the National Park Service campground and the pony pens to get to Ocracoke village or the ferry to Hatteras. This new bridge is over Quarks Creek. The project included removing wooden bridges and replacing the bridges with wider concrete structures. The work was concluded in 74 days. Conventional construction would have taken two years.

1895 to Nov. 7, 1954, was an attorney, a congressman for six years and North Carolina governor or two years.

The final connection to the mainland started in 1960 and was completed in 1962.

The Croatan-Alligator Bridge Association started lobbying for this bridge in 1951.

The Lindsay C. Warren Bridge, also known as the Alligator River Bridge, carries U.S. 64 over the Alligator River. The two-lane bridge with a swing span is “technologically significant” in its use of long-span welded girders.

Lindsay Carter Warren was a lawyer, state legislator, a congressman for 16 years and served as comptroller general of the United States from 1941 to 1954. He instituted many reforms in the General Accounting Office.

After his retirement, he spent time on the Outer Banks. He participated in the dedication of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, celebrating his bill of 1937, which created the first national seashore. In 1959, he returned to the North Carolina Senate.

On May 10, 1962 he attended the dedication of the Lindsay Warren Bridge connecting the mainland of the state to the Outer Banks area. He was unable to attend the dedication of the Lindsay Warren Visitor Center at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in 1966.

DHR PHOTO

Left: The Herbert C. Bonner Bridge is dwarfed by the new Marc Basnight Bridge over Oregon Inlet, which opened in February 2019.

The last connection needed for Dare County was a bridge across Oregon Inlet. A private ferry operation ran across the inlet. The state purchased the operation.

The Herbert C. Bonner Bridge crossing Oregon Inlet was dedicated in 1964. It carried NC 12 and served as the connection between northern Dare County and Hatteras Island.

The bridge to Hatteras Island was past its design life. It took NCDOT, elected officials and citizens nearly 30 years to replace the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, Dare County Bridge No. 72.

Construction started March 2016.

On Feb. 25, 2019, the Marc Basnight Bridge was opened to the public. The new bridge replaced the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge. Basnight represented North Carolina’s First Senatorial District from 1984 to 2011 and was the longest serving president pro tem of the North Carolina Senate. As part of the bridge dedication ceremony, more than 2,000 people walked the 2.8-mile span.

Another bridge, the longest in North Carolina, is the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge, Dare County Bridge No. 54. The 5.2 mile, fourlane bridge connects Roanoke Island with Manns Harbor on the Dare County mainland. Dedicated Aug. 16, 2002, the b r i d g e

alleviates traffic congestion and provides another evacuation route. Several thousand people attended the dedication, including North Carolina Governor Mike Easley and actor Andy Griffith, who made the crossing in one of his antique automobiles.

Some additional bridges in Dare County include the Richard Etheridge Bridge, regarded as an interim bridge, built to span an inlet which severed NC 12 on Hatteras Island.

Dare County Bridge No. 43, the Cora Mae Basnight Bridge, makes the connection between Manteo and Roanoke Island Festival Park.

In Hatteras village, two bridges cross Slash Creek, Nos. 8 and 63.

Now under construction is a Rodanthe Bridge. The $145.33 million project elevates NC 12 from the southern end of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge into the village of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island. NC 12 at the S-curves was severed by Hurricanes Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012. The Rodanthe bridge will bypass. Construction was started July 2018. The bridge is expected to open in the fall of 2021.

CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE PHOTO

Rise in Oregon Inlet bridge under construction, February 1963