Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Ray S. Brooks Bridge leading into Bath will close this Tuesday, March 26 for 60 days, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). 

The department’s goal is to have work completed on the bridge and to open it by Memorial Day weekend, according to Lauren Haviland, a communications officer for NCDOT. 

Drivers going to and from Bath are to take Jackson Swamp Road, Post Road, Boyd Road and U.S. Highway 264. 

The project will replace a span, or a portion of the bridge – not the whole bridge. A concrete span will be removed and replaced. According to a public notice from the U.S. Coast Guard, the purpose of the project is to remove weight restrictions on the 64-year-old bridge and replacing the span will add to the bridge’s longevity. 

There will be barge/crane activity in the waterway during demolition and construction, per the public notice.