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Re: Pea Island and Bonner Bridge



The large maintenance costs (50 million dollars for 1987-1999) for the existing bridge/road relate to problems associated with keeping the bridge over a dynamic inlet (groin, repairs), moving the road west as erosion threatens it (below the visitor center), and removing/repairing sand/water from the road. The last two will not exist with the long bridge, and the first will be less difficult, because moving the bridge to the west makes it less susceptible to the forces of the inlet. If maintenance costs are considered, the long bridge wins.

Inlet dredging still would be necessary to maintain the 14' depth (for large commercial fishing boats), but assuming the terminal groin comes out (which is required under the current permit), the long bridge likely will make channel maintenance less expensive, because the channel no longer will have to be confined to a narrow location under a few high spans, which conflicts with the geological forces trying to move the inlet to the south.

The bridge is considered "safe" for now, but it is ranked very low (6 on a 1-100 scale), and how long it remains is a big question; continuing repairs are necessary, and DOT has said the replacement needs to be done by 2010.

In terms of motorized access, some have argued for a FWS tram (this avoids people in ORVs running over shorebirds; two American oystercatcher chicks and a least tern were killed here at Cape Hatteras N.S. a couple of weeks ago), while others have suggested a boat ferry system, similar to Cape Lookout (over 600,000 visitors in FY 2002).

Pea Island NWR is getting narrower every day. Overwash, which creates and maintains shorebird habitat and maintains narrow barrier islands, is incompatible with maintaining a paved road. FWS had trouble finding money to fix one of the pumps that regulates water levels in the impoundment; finding the tens of millions necessary to keep the pavement is going to be even harder. Currently, there are about 80 miles of road in Dare County that are parallel to the ocean. A wilderness management approach -- no road -- for the 12 miles of PINWR finally would give those who want this type of recreational experience a place where they can walk and hear only the sounds of the birds and the ocean, and being able to hear the shorebirds -- the "peep lo" sound of the piping plover, for instance -- really helps with locating them! Breeding, migrating, and wintering shorebirds also would benefit best from this approach.

Sidney Maddock
Buxton, NC


At 06:34 PM 7/14/03 -0400, Joshua S. Rose wrote:
* * *
On Mon, 14 Jul 2003, Clyde Sorenson wrote:
>
> I'm a little puzzled by all the concern that Pea Island won't be
> accessible if they build the long bridge. Best I can figure, the
> existing road will be there for a while, and once its gone or overwashed
> in places to the point it is no longer passable, you should still be
> able to walk. I imagine the FWS will maintain some roads in order to
> facilitate management (i.e. water level management, vegetation
> management, etc.), and they may use some of these roads as part of a
> "Wildlife Drive" as is found on many refuges.

My impression was that one of the non-environmental reasons why plan 4
(the 17-mile, bypass-PI plan) was a good idea was that it would end the
really, really expensive dredging and maintenance of Oregon Inlet,
required for the continued safe use of Bonner Bridge. Of course, we're
talking geological processes here; the bridge could remain safe for auto
traffic until we're all dead and gone, and for foot traffic even longer
than that. So my pondering about a ferry or other access to PI was looking
ahead to that point in time. I mean, after all, our great-grandkids might
be birders too, right? And I kinda imagine that keeping that bridge safe
must cost a heck of a lot more than your average NWR wildlife drive,
because building the alternative is sure going to! Optimist that I am, I
can't convince myself that NCDOT would consider a bypass if it weren't at
least in the same price-tag ballpark as maintaining the current
configuration...

GOod birding,

Josh

Joshua S. Rose
Duke University