North Carolina Construction News staff writer
The North Carolina Department of Transportation awarded about 500 construction and maintenance contracts worth more than $3.1 billion in 2025, while continuing large-scale recovery work from Hurricane Helene, the most destructive storm in state history.
Much of the department’s work during the year focused on repairing transportation infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Helene, which struck western North Carolina in late September 2024. The storm damaged more than 9,400 locations on state-maintained roads, including nearly 850 bridges and more than 2,000 pipes and culverts.
As of 2025, NCDOT had completed work at more than 7,300 damaged sites. Crews and contractors repaired or replaced more than 560 bridges, including a bridge in McDowell County serving a residential neighborhood and Baxter Healthcare, the largest IV fluid manufacturer in the United States.
State and federal officials marked the one-year anniversary of the storm with an event along Interstate 40 in the Pigeon River Gorge. During the event, federal partners announced North Carolina would receive $1.15 billion in additional Hurricane Helene funding, the largest single allocation ever awarded to a state through the federal Emergency Relief program.
While recovery continued in western North Carolina, other regions of the state experienced severe weather in 2025, including snowstorms in eastern counties and heavy rainfall in central North Carolina from Tropical Storm Chantal.
NCDOT said the use of tools such as its flood warning system allowed the department to pre-position Incident Management Assistance Patrol crews ahead of storms, improving emergency response and worker safety.
Several major highway projects reached key milestones during the year, including the widening of Interstate 26 in Henderson County and Interstate 440 in Wake County, upgrades to U.S. 70 in Johnston County to interstate standards, the opening of the Rockingham Bypass in Richmond County and the Havelock Bypass in Craven County, and completion of the final segment of the Interstate 295 outer loop in Fayetteville.
The department and its partners received recognition in 2025 for Hurricane Helene recovery operations and for the North Carolina Turnpike Authority’s work on the Complete 540 project around Raleigh.
In addition to construction activity, NCDOT hosted National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week and dedicated 23 roads and bridges across the state in honor of fallen law enforcement officers.
Leadership changes also occurred during the year. Paul Tine was appointed commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles, which expanded online services and hired and trained more than 200 new examiners in 2025.
Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins retired in September after 35 years with the department. Daniel Johnson was appointed secretary in the fall and said his priorities include improving DMV operations, enhancing safety for NCDOT employees and the traveling public, and continuing recovery work related to Hurricane Helene.