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By Charlotte Smith

Elizabethtown faired better than some in Bladen County with Hurricane Florence damages but compromises to the US Hwy 701 Bridge over the Cape Fear River and the Elizabethtown City Cemetery have been cause for major concern.

The bridge has an extreme amount of logs and debris build up around the columns. The cemetery has had a geological shift disturbing some of the grave markers and splitting the asphalt in the road down S. Queen Street at the cemetery location.

Mayor Sylvia Campbell reported she has been in several meetings about the bridge and the cemetery. Governor Roy Cooper, multiple engineers, and officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation have seen the damages.

Nicky Garrell with the North Carolina Department of Transportation reported S. Queen Street where the cemetery is located was not a state road; therefore the town would be addressing issues with the cemetery area and road.

Originally the northbound lanes of the US 701 bridge spanning the Cape Fear River, were to remain closed due to the need for DOT to bring in some equipment needed for work to remove the log jam at the bridge. However, that plan may have changed since the river water has receded some officials have said, but will not confirm.

Before the hurricane hit Elizabethtown, the NC DOT released a press release stating, “Crews will soon begin restoring the concrete surface of the northbound U.S. 701 bridge over the Cape Fear River in Elizabethtown.”

The statment sited the bridge was built in 1986, and some of the concrete on the driving surface has begun to flake off as the result of age and weather.

Since the DOT press release in August the hurricane added a pile of large logs and debris to the needed work at the bridge.

The recovery process is being planned for the bridge, by NCDOT Maintenance Engineer, Darron Pittman according to Garrell. BladenOnline.com has reached out to Mr. Pittman for details about the plan, however, at this time we have not heard back from Mr. Pittman.

Mayor Campbell did confirm the issues at the cemetery continue to end back up in the Town of Elizabethtown’s jurisdiction for recovery. Mayor Campbell and Assistant Town Manager Pat DeVane both state they are very concerned about the issues at the bridge and the cemetery and are working with engineers and other professionals to find solutions. However, the town is still in the planning stages for the recovery process.

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