- Jul 20, 2001
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The North Carolina Dept. of Transportation is building a new bridge on the Outer Banks to replace a stretch of highway on Pea Island that keeps getting washed out during storms. The map linked below shows the new bridge alignment. One of the project goals was to locate the bridge outside of the expected 2060 erosion zone, the portion of the island expected to become part of the Atlantic Ocean by 2060. By state law, the North Carolina DOT is prohibited from considering global warming in its analyses. Members of the public commented on the lack of consideration for global warming. The North Carolina law is so strict, NC DOT didn't even use the term in their response to comments.
The map depicts the "2060 high erosion" zone with a red line.
https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/PDEA/Web/NC12Rodanthe/2014B_BridgeOnNewLocation.pdf
Unfortunately, NC DOT doesn't provide their methodology for determining this zone in their online archive. It would be interesting to see where that line would fall if global warming were factored in.
https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/nc-12-rodanthe/Pages/project-documents.aspx
The map depicts the "2060 high erosion" zone with a red line.
https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/PDEA/Web/NC12Rodanthe/2014B_BridgeOnNewLocation.pdf
Unfortunately, NC DOT doesn't provide their methodology for determining this zone in their online archive. It would be interesting to see where that line would fall if global warming were factored in.
https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/nc-12-rodanthe/Pages/project-documents.aspx