By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Warrior Drive residents near Tryon can access their homes from Howard Gap Road after more than four months of the bridge being under construction.

The Warrior Drive bridge was complete and reopened earlier this week after construction to replace the bridge began on Dec. 1, 2014.

The N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) replaced the bridge and closed part of Warrior Drive during construction.

The bridge spans a tributary of the North Pacolet River and was built in 1956. The bridge was considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. It was built to design standards that are no longer in use and was determined by the state it needed replacement.

A concrete culvert was built to replace the former structure during construction.

Residents on the Howard Gap Road side of the bridge were detoured to Harmon Field Road, then to U.S. 176 back to the other side of Warrior Drive prior to the reopening this week.

Early estimates were that the bridge construction would not be complete until May. The contractors were Apple Tuck Associates out of Rutherforton with a contract of $248,102.