Drivers will need to prepare for delays as a major construction project kicked off this week on I-26.HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. -
More than 17,000 cars and trucks drive over the Green River every day.
But that number is expected to slow down until the end of the month as the N.C. Department of Transportation begins working on the 45-year-old bridge in Henderson County.
Official say motorists should expect delays as one lane of Interstate 26 East at Exit 54 will be closed.
"We are going to be replacing the joints on the bridge," says NCDOT Resident Engineer Aaron Powell.
Powell is overseeing the $1.2 million project. He says the four joints in the Peter Guice Memorial Bridge have deteriorated.
The structure is listed as "functionally obsolete" meaning it's not built for today's standards.
Powell says repair will help strengthen the bridge.
In April 2012, Powell and other NCDOT workers had to fix the bridge after a tanker carrying sulfuric acid overturned and caught fire.
"It didn't help that joint on that end at all," Powell said.
During the work, all trucks must use posted detour of U.S. 25 South to S.C. Hwy 11 back to I-26. Cars will be allowed across the bridge but the lane will be narrowed due to the nature of the project.
The bridge is expected to re-open in two weeks, weather permitting.
Crews will be on the job day and night. The other side of the bridge will be fixed in April.
