Project Overview
Areté Engineers provided engineering and permitting services to replace a bridge over the Watauga River. During Hurricane Helene in September 2024, floodwaters destroyed the original crossing. As a result, more than a dozen homes and a local business lost their only vehicle access.
Areté Engineers worked with Samaritan’s Purse on this project through its Hurricane Helene rebuild program. The new bridge, dedicated on April 13, 2026, will restore safe and reliable access across the river.
Structural Design
Areté Engineers led engineering from site investigation through final design. The scope included coordination of the topographic survey and geotechnical investigation, a hydrologic and hydraulic evaluation of the river crossing, FEMA floodplain permitting, and full design of the bridge superstructure and substructure.
Compared with the pre-Helene crossing, the new hydraulic design increases the conveyance area. This gives floodwater and debris more room to pass beneath the bridge. Areté Engineers also designed the bridge for HL-93 live loading, so it can carry full-size emergency and service trucks.
The replacement bridge is approximately 112 feet long, with two 55-foot spans of prestressed concrete cored slabs. It also has a 15-foot-wide deck and timber railing. Reinforced concrete end bents and a center bent support the structure. Each bent rests on vertical and battered micropiles designed to extend into competent rock.
Rebuilding Access Across Western North Carolina
Since Hurricane Helene, Areté Engineers has designed a dozen private bridge replacements with Samaritan’s Purse, including this one. These projects restore access for families in Watauga, Avery, Buncombe, and Ashe counties. They range from 20-foot single spans to multi-span structures over 150 feet. In addition, more projects are in development.
Photos Credit: Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse
