Wright Memorial Bridge

Wright Memorial Bridge
Wright Memorial Bridge
	Wright Memorial Bridge in 2022
Coordinates	36°05′22″N 75°45′21″W / 36.08944°N 75.75583°W
Carries	4 lanes of US 158
Crosses	Currituck Sound
Locale	Currituck and Dare Counties
Other name(s)	Currituck Sound Bridge
Named for	Wright brothers
Owner	NCDOT
Maintained by	NCDOT
Characteristics
Design	Segmented girder (westbound); Concrete slab (eastbound)
Material	Prestressed concrete
Total length	14,927.9 feet (4,550.0 m) (westbound); 14,867.9 feet (4,531.7 m) (eastbound)
Width	38.4 feet (11.7 m) (westbound); 33.8 feet (10.3 m) (eastbound)
History
Opened	1995 (westbound); 1966 (eastbound)
Statistics
Daily traffic	8,000 (as of 2011)
Location
References

The Wright Memorial Bridge comprises two automobile bridges spanning the Currituck Sound, between Point Harbor, in Currituck County, and Kitty Hawk, in Dare County. The bridges carry US 158 and are dedicated to the Wright brothers.

History

Wright Memorial Bridge I

The first bridge opened on September 27, 1930; built by the W.L. Jones Company of Elizabeth City and owned by the Wright Memorial Bridge Company. Entirely made of wood, the 3-mile (4.8 km) span took six months to construct, at a cost of $225,000. A toll bridge costing $1 per trip, it became the official gateway to the Outer Banks and even featured an archway at the Kitty Hawk end that read "Dare County" at top, "1583 Birthplace of a Nation" on left, and "1903 Birthplace of Aviation" on right. The bridge replaced a private ferry service between Point Harbor and Kitty Hawk.^[4]^[5]^[6]

In June 1935, the State Highway Commission purchased the Wright Memorial Bridge for $150,000 and removed the toll.^[7] In 1934, NC 344 was replaced by NC 34; which was later replaced by US 158 in 1941.^[8]^[9] In 1966, the first Wright Memorial Bridge was replaced and razed.^[4]^[10]

Wright Memorial Bridge II

The second and current eastbound bridge opened in 1966, replacing the first Wright Memorial Bridge. The new two-lane concrete slab bridge allowed a 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) speed limit, an improvement to the former bridge's 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) speed limit. In 1995 a second parallel bridge was constructed to alleviate traffic, which became the westbound bridge. The older eastbound bridge was reconstructed in 1997. Both bridges together provide four lanes of traffic.^[4]

References

^ "Uglybridges.com: US158 EBL over Croatan Sound". Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ "Uglybridges.com: US158 WBL over Croatan Sound". Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ "Bridgehunter.com: Wright Memorial Bridge". Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Wright Memorial Bridge". ICWNET. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ Downing, Sarah (2014). On This Day in Outer Banks History. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-282-9.
^ Bachman, Karen (2007). Insiders' Guide to North Carolina's Outer Banks. The Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-4408-4.
^ Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, NC), June 20, 1935
^ North Carolina County Road Survey 1936 (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCSHC / NCSTC / U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. North Carolina State Tax Commission. 1936. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ North Carolina Primary Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCDOT. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. 1951. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ "NCDOT: History of Bridge Building in NC". North Carolina Department of Transportation. June 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[UB-EB-1] "Uglybridges.com: US158 EBL over Croatan Sound". Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[UB-WB-2] "Uglybridges.com: US158 WBL over Croatan Sound". Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[BridgeHunter-3] "Bridgehunter.com: Wright Memorial Bridge". Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[wmb-4] "Wright Memorial Bridge". ICWNET. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[5] Downing, Sarah (2014). On This Day in Outer Banks History. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-62619-282-9.

[6] Bachman, Karen (2007). Insiders' Guide to North Carolina's Outer Banks. The Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-4408-4.

[7] Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, NC), June 20, 1935

[8] North Carolina County Road Survey 1936 (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCSHC / NCSTC / U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. North Carolina State Tax Commission. 1936. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[9] North Carolina Primary Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCDOT. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. 1951. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[10] "NCDOT: History of Bridge Building in NC". North Carolina Department of Transportation. June 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

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v t e Outer Banks of North Carolina and Virginia
Landforms	Bodie Island Knotts Island Monkey Island Mary Island Colington Island Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula Roanoke Island Pea Island Hatteras Island No Ache Island Cape Hatteras Shelly Island Ocracoke Island Beacon Island Portsmouth Island Core Banks Cape Lookout
Places	City of Virginia Beach Sandbridge Currituck County Knotts Island Carova Beach Corolla Dare County Duck Southern Shores Kitty Hawk Kill Devil Hills Colington Nags Head Whalebone Junction Manteo Wanchese Rodanthe Waves Salvo Avon Buxton Frisco Hatteras Hyde County Ocracoke Carteret County Portsmouth Cape Lookout Village
Waterways	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Bays Onslow Bay Raleigh Bay Back Bay Knotts Island Bay Sounds Currituck Sound Albemarle Sound Croatan Sound Roanoke Sound Pamlico Sound Core Sound Back Sound Inlets Oregon Inlet New Inlet Isabel Inlet Hatteras Inlet Ocracoke Inlet Drum Inlet Barden Inlet
Lighthouses	Currituck Beach Light Bodie Island Light Cape Hatteras Light Ocracoke Light Cape Lookout Light
Protected areas and wildlife	National seashores Cape Hatteras National Seashore Cape Lookout National Seashore Wildlife refuges Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge Currituck National Wildlife Refuge Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge State parks False Cape State Park Jockey's Ridge State Park State coastal reserves Kitty Hawk Woods Buxton Woods Game lands Currituck Banks Game Land Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land Buxton Woods Game Land Preserves Nags Head Woods Preserve Roanoke Island Marshes Preserve Museums, zoos, and institutes North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum University of North Carolina - Coastal Studies Institute Other Mountains-to-Sea Trail Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Wright Brothers National Memorial Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Run Hill State Natural Area Wildlife Banker horse Red wolf
Transportation	Routes Historic Albemarle Tour North Carolina Ferry System Bridges Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge Marc Basnight Bridge Herbert C. Bonner Bridge Wright Memorial Bridge William B. Umstead Bridge Washington Baum Bridge Melvin R. Daniels Bridge Rodanthe Bridge Mid-Currituck Bridge Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge Airports Dare County Regional Airport First Flight Airport Billy Mitchell Airport Ocracoke Island Airport
History	Events and places Pea Island Life-Saving Station Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Roanoke Colony Graveyard of the Atlantic Torpedo Alley Battle of the Atlantic Hatteras Weather Bureau Station Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island People Roanoke people Croatan Wanchese Manteo John White Richard Grenville Blackbeard Raleigh Virginia Dare Marc Basnight
Weather	1936 Outer Banks hurricane 1945 Outer Banks hurricane Hurricane Fran Hurricane Irene Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Dorian Hazard mitigation

History

Wright Memorial Bridge I

Wright Memorial Bridge II

See also

References