The N.C. Board of Transportation is asking the state to move forward with the replacement of a bridge on Pearsons Falls Road over the North Pacolet River.

The existing bridge replacement is one of three contracts the board is expected to delegate to Transportation Secretary Gene Conti at a meeting in Raleigh on Thursday.

The bridge replacement has been one of the projects in Polk County listed on the state&squo;s Transportation Improvement Plan. According to the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT), $140,000 was spent previously and another $1.19 million is needed to replace the bridge over the North Pacolet River. The state indicates that $1.05 million has been allocated in fiscal year 2009 for the federal bridge replacement project.

The state has also listed on its Transportation Improvement Plan the replacement of a bridge on Pearsons Falls Road over a small branch of the Pacolet River. The state does not show funding available for that project until 2013.

The N.C. Board of Transportation plans to ask Transportation Secretary Conti to consider more than $14.5 million in highway improvement projects in three counties at its meeting on Thursday.

In addition to the Pearsons Falls Road bridge project, the board is asking Conti to consider two other projects:

&ull; Replace two existing bridges over the Tar River on Grimesland Bridge Road (State Road 1565) near Grimesland in Pitt County;

&ull; Replace an existing bridge over Little Phoenix Creek on Old N.C. 16 (S.R. 1573) north of Jefferson in Ashe County.

The board meets at 9 a.m. in Room 150 of the Transportation Building located at the corner of Wilmington and Morgan streets in downtown Raleigh. On Wednesday, March 4, at 8:30 a.m., board committees will begin meeting in the Transportation Building.