Drivers on U.S. 29 North in Concord will move onto a newly built bridge deck beginning Friday, Aug. 7, as the N.C. Department of Transportation reaches a milestone in its $11.1 million project to replace two aging bridges over Irish Buffalo Creek.

NCDOT contract crews are shifting traffic to the new deck on U.S. 29/601, also known as Concord Parkway, according to an NCDOT press release published Aug. 7. The Independent Tribune also reported the traffic shift.

Both bridges are roughly 75 years old.

Dane Construction Inc. of Mooresville won the contract in May 2023 to replace the two structures, identified in NCDOT records as Bridge 57 and Bridge 59. The project falls under NCDOT Division 10 and carries the state transportation improvement number B-5808.

Construction began around April 3, 2023, according to project records. The City of Concord included related water infrastructure work in its 2023–2027 Capital Improvement Plan to accommodate the bridge replacement.

The weekend traffic shift puts vehicles on the first completed deck while crews turn their attention to demolishing and rebuilding the second structure. A project completion date has not been publicly announced.

Drivers on Concord Parkway should expect construction activity near Irish Buffalo Creek until the full project wraps up.