‘Overwhelming.’ Iron Station families see work begin on new concrete bridge
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The non-profit organization, Mennonite Disaster Services, has begun to put a permanent solution in place to aid families along a flooding-prone part of Amity Lane in Iron Station.
Friday evening, trailers full of volunteers parked at the section of the road that runs above Reed Creek, where a concrete-supported bridge will be built within the next ten days.
In early January, a culvert bridge installed to strengthen the road access was completely washed out beyond repair.
It stranded nearly 50 families for days who had no clear way to leave their homes by vehicle.
A pedestrian bridge was quickly built by Lincoln County to allow emergency responders the chance to get to people if help was needed.
Despite this, fire crews were delayed in their response to a house fire just weeks later.
Help on the way for “stranded” Iron Station community
The county, the city of Iron Station, nor the state are responsible for rebuilding the bridge because it is a privately owned road.
It has been left up to the neighbors themselves to come up with a solution and to pay for it.
In early February, the non-profit group announced it would step in to help build a permanent bridge.
Philip Troyer, with the non-profit, said this should be strong enough to withstand any flooding.
“We’ve built these types of bridges all over, and they have remained sturdy,” he explained.
The bridge will also be strong enough to allow fully supplied fire trucks to drive over them, something that has been the biggest concern for families after a house fire on January 20th.
The plan was to begin construction on the bridge in March, however, multiple steps had to be completed by the county and state, which included a flood plan study.
On April 26, the non-profit received its permit to move forward with its proposed bridge concept.
On Monday, Phil and roughly two dozen volunteers were on site and began construction of laying the foundation for the concrete pillars that will support the bridge itself.
The group has built similar bridges across multiple states, but this particular ground has proven to be more tricky than most.
Phil described it as, “overwhelming, because, we didn’t know what we were going to expect when were started digging. But that ground . . . there is pretty soft . . . We’re driving the pipe 20 feet to find solid enough ground.”
Despite this, he still expects the bridge to be strong enough to withstand anything the weather throws at it.
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