One person died after one of the last remaining sections of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet collapsed on Wednesday. Emergency responders were called to Oregon Inlet just before 5 p.m., according to OBX Today. One of the two remaining sections of the navigation span in the middle of the inlet appeared to have collapsed.
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday evening confirmed that one person was standing on the bridge. At least one other person was reported seriously injured. Other details about the incident were not yet available.
As the bridge was being dismantled, the concrete road deck and guardrails were cut apart and stacked on the support beams, according to the article. It was then loaded onto barges, followed by steel beams. The northern steel sections had been lowered to a barge sometime in the 24 hours prior to the collapse. The southern section was in the process of being unloaded of the concrete when it fell.
Demolition began in 2019, shortly after the Marc Basnight Bridge opened to traffic. The southern end of the bridge that was built in 1936 is being converted into a public fishing pier.
