It took a specialized craze to lift a BMW convertible from its illegal but locally famous parking place on the Cape Fear River Bridge in Elizabethtown Wednesday.
Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Barksdale said the car was discovered on the section of the bridge that is under construction on Dec. 27. A DOT highway inspector found the vehicle, which had already become a popular topic of conversation on social media.
The driver apparently knocked several barrels and pylons out of place while traveling south on U.S. 701. The car made it across a section of the bridge that has been partially surfaced before driving through a section where reinforcing bars are protruding from the base of the roadway. The car made it some distance before it was too damaged to keep driving, and got caught in the reinforcing bars.
The southbound lanes have been reduced due to the bridge replacement project, Barksdale said. Multiple signs, including high visibility flashing signs, guide drivers along the route from N.C. 242 a mile to the lane shift.
Jason Johnson, the NCDOT resident engineer in Whiteville, said the car apparently went onto the uncompleted section of the bridge around 1 a.m.
“We do not know why the driver did this, or how it happened,” Johnson said.
The Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, Barksdale said. Troopers tagged the car as abandoned after a DOT inspector found the car parked on two narrow strips of aluminum over the bed of steel supports. The driver, who is reportedly from Jacksonville, was uninjured.
Johnson emphasized that the lane shift is clearly marked and readily visible day or night.
“There are signs and barrels (or drums) that guide drivers through this work zone to keep them on the section that is completed,” he explained. “There are also barricades up.
“All told, there are more than 200 barrels (or drums) set out for this project.”
Inspectors are on the site every day, Johnson said, but very little work was taking place during the Christmas holiday, when DOT shuts down projects to lessen traffic congestion on major roads.
“Prior to this vehicle accident, we had already scheduled one of our inspectors to go to this project site in the daytime of Dec. 27 to inspect it and ride through it to make sure everything was fine,” Johnson said. “The inspector discovered the abandoned car out there at that time, but also noted that a few (out of the more than 200) barrels/drums were misplaced – not exactly where they should be, such as because they got knocked off.”
Barrels frequently get tapped by drivers, Johnson explained.
“This is not uncommon – to have a few drums bumped or shifted or run over, etc. Thus, we believe our work zone and traffic control devices (the signs, barrels and barricades) were still in place and functioning as intended last week when this BWM driver somehow went around them/over them and ended up on the section of the bridge still under construction.”
The surface of the bridge has not been poured yet, so there was no concrete between the BWM and the Cape Fear River, more than 50 feet below.
“Because this accident happened on a section of the bridge with rebar and other material, we did not want the Highway Patrol to simply have it towed away,” Johnson said. Officials were concerned the bridge frame might be damaged if a tow truck were driven onto the bridge to recover the vehicle.
A contractor used a large crane to physically lift the BMW from the unfinished road and move it toa safe place, where City Towing of Elizabethtown picked up the vehicle. A social media post from the company said the car was being returned to the owner in Jacksonville.
“We did it this way to avoid any further damage to the bridge,” Johnson said.
