Hurricane Irene leaves a big mess on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
Reported From: APE Mid-Atlantic (VA)
Hurricane Irene came up the east coast and made a big mess at the shinning star of North Carolina……………The Outer Banks. This long strip of barrier islands is one of the biggest summer playgrounds on the east coast, but lately it’s also become a magnet for “Nor east storms” and hurricanes. One of the hardest hit areas is the region south of Oregon Inlet. It has become common for the water to rise up on highway 12 and wash large areas of it away.
Hurricane Irene was no different. Just about the time the winds & rain had left the area the residents & the NCDOT had seen the damage, a very large area of the only road in & out was gone and mother nature had blessed the Outer banks with a new inlet. “Carolina Bridge” from Orangeburg SC got the call to come and look and see what could be done ASAP to re-open this stretch of road. Richard Nickel, Operations Manager of Carolina Bridge met with the NCDOT and they decided to bridge the gap with a temporary bridge until a permanent fix could be designed and agreed upon.
The NCDOT contracted Carolina Bridge to install some large sheet pile containment cells at both ends of the bridge as well as aprox. 90 ea. 24” x 70’ steel pipe piles to support the temporary bridge. The crews will be working 24/7 2 shifts until the road re-opens Richard contacted Jimmy Deemer of APE Mid-Atlantic in Virginia Beach VA. And they determined an APE model 200 vibratory hammer and an APE D-30-42 diesel hammer would be a good choice to meet the criteria that was needed to support the new bridge.
Carolina Bridge is currently driving the piles to with in 5’-10 feet of grade with the APE 200 vibro hammer, and finishing / proving them with the APE D-30-42 diesel hammer, all is going very smooth. APE wishes Carolina Bridge a safe and productive job, we know they have their work cut out for them! Contact your nearest APE branch for all of your piledriving & foundation equipment needs, APE is the largest manufacture & provider of equipment in the world! Visit us on the web……..www.apevibro.com and see just what APE can do for you & your current or upcoming job. GO APE !
