A southbound span of the same bridge was completed in October 2012 and opened to traffic in March 2013.
The bridge was not only a bottleneck for traffic moving between Charlotte and Greensboro (and between the larger metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Washington, D.C.); it was also structurally deficient and in need of replacement.
In terms of cost, national importance, and imminent structural failure, it became the highest-profile construction project in North Carolina.
One planned road was the Salisbury bypass, 15 miles (24 km) long with a $1 million 880-foot (270 m) twin-span bridge over the Yadkin River.
[1] As of 2001, the project to build a wider, safer replacement bridge was expected to cost $147 million, with right-of-way acquisition in the years 2003 through 2005 and construction starting by 2007 or 2008.
[3] In 2005, the state prepared to ask for bids, but concerns about damage to a Native American cultural site delayed the project two years.
[1] After many more delays, the state government asked for federal funding but only received $10 million in TIGER money in 2010.
[7] On September 29, 2010, state and local officials held a groundbreaking ceremony on the Davidson County side of the project.
This bridge remained in place from July 2011 until October 2012 and had to support as many as six 230-ton cranes at a time.
Wilkinson of Charlotte and Elwood Cox of High Point, is one of only six of its type left in the state.
[23] Tourist attractions in the area included Trading Ford and the former site of the Civil War fort Camp Yadkin.
DOT said the bridge would be used as a detour during construction, so the state would spend $1.5 million on repairs.
[31] The Norfolk Southern Railroad Yadkin River Bridges were built in 1906 and 1919 and each contain four spans of Warren deck truss.