OGDEN — The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) began work on Torchwood Boulevard over the summer. The major thoroughfare for Ogden residents was expected to be completed in time for the beginning of school — it’s now been pushed back to February.
According to the NCDOT, the major causes of delays have been complicated planning around Cape Fear Public Utility Authority water pipes and inclement weather. As NCDOT Wilmington Resident Engineer Alex Stewart put it, “we’ve actually been hampered both by too much and too little rain.”
The Torchwood work is part of the larger Military Cutoff Extension project; both involved work near CFPUA’s pipes leading to and from the nearby Richardson Nanofiltration Plant, which serves most of Porters Neck, Ogden, Murrayville, and Castle Hayne.
According to Stewart, pipes carrying both raw and finished water to and from the plant are buried underneath key work areas. Stewart said this required extensive additional planning to avoid interrupting too much service to and from the plant.
When the region was hit with prolonged drought conditions over the summer, NCDOT workers were further constrained because the system was already running at a lower pressure, Stewart said.
After the drought came the deluge — when Hurricane Dorian hit the area. While less destructive than Hurricane Florence in 2018, Dorian still caused widespread flooding in the Ogden area, including in NCDOT’s work areas.
In addition to planning around CFPUA utility lines and setbacks from floods and droughts, the latest setbacks are, in part, in anticipation of cold snaps in December and January. While North Carolina winters are usually mild, periods of cold weather can hamper asphalt work, the final phase in the Torchwood work.
While NCDOT officials acknowledged the neighbors have understandably grown frustrated with the repeated delays, they believe the latest setback — to February — will be the last. Stewart said he believed there was enough contingency built into the early 2020 date that the project would be finished before the deadline.
