RALEIGH - On July 12, 2024, the Biden Administration announced a transformational $242 million grant to support the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement project in Wilmington. Funding for this grant gives this project an extraordinary boost toward completion and comes from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The U.S. Department of Transportation notified Congress on Friday of the impending formal announcement of the award.

“This major grant from the Biden Administration is a game changer for the people of Southeastern North Carolina,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is a critical lifeline for Wilmington and our economy, used every day by thousands of residents, tourists headed to the beach and truck drivers going to and from the port. I appreciate President Biden’s leadership and commitment to rebuilding our aging infrastructure and look forward to getting this transformational project underway.”

The Bridge Investment Program-Large Bridge Project discretionary grant funded through the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents about half of the current estimated $485 million cost of the project.

“This grant signifies our federal partners understand the challenges we face with continual and increasing maintenance costs of this aging structure that connects communities and carries trucks that transport freight to and from the Port of Wilmington and the need to respond to the tremendous growth this region is experiencing,” said North Carolina Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins.

Built in 1969, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is a 3,000-foot-long steel vertical-lift bridge that carries U.S. 17/U.S. 76 /U.S. 421 over the Cape Fear River and connects Brunswick and New Hanover counties. The new structure is proposed to be a high-rise, fixed-span bridge.

The bridge is currently safe and in fair condition in the wake of a major rehabilitation project completed in spring of 2024. However, its design is not up to modern standards. It costs about $500,000 per year to maintain and operate the moveable span structure, which carries more than 70,000 cars and trucks across the river each day and is projected to carry nearly 100,000 vehicles by 2050.