‘Extremely disappointed’: New 40-ton arches collapse onto bridge in downtown Hickory

They fell onto the pedestrian walkway and onto Main Avenue Northeast over Highway 127, near downtown Hickory. Police closed both areas.

A Channel 9 crew at the scene Friday morning could see the splintered wooden arches strewn across the bridge. Neighbors said it sounded like an earthquake when the arches came crashing down overnight.

(WATCH: Surveillance video captures the Hickory arch collapse - Part 2)

The arches were part of the city’s 40-ton, multimillion-dollar City Walk Project project, whose contract was signed in June 2019. The two arches were set up downtown in 2021 and cost $750,000.

(WATCH: Surveillance video captures the Hickory arch collapse - Part 3)

“I feel like this is what represents Hickory and it’s embarrassing,” said resident Carmen Eckard. “$750,000 that is just firewood now.”

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There was no information immediately available about how the arches fell but Channel 9 has reached out to learn more.

Workers spent much of the morning Friday securing the area around the two bridges.

By daybreak, dozens of people had come out to see what was left of the pedestrian bridge that crosses Highway 127. Hickory mayor Hank Guess spoke with Channel 9′s Dave Faherty by phone. He said fortunately, nobody was hurt and the arches are still under warranty.

“Extremely disappointed,” Guess said. “This was the iconic structure that really highlighted our city walk. All the engineers, all the professionals, all the architects -- everyone agreed that this structure was safe and sound.”

The mayor said the arches were manufactured by the Oregon-based company Western Wood Structures. Their more than half-a-million dollar price tag accounted for about 5% of the total $14.3 million contract that Hickory awarded to Neill Grading & Construction Company for the city walk.

Neill Grading and Construction Company sent a statement to Channel 9 confirming it was under contract with the City of Hickory but said it had no direct involvement in the design or manufacture of the arches.

Neil Grading said it subcontracted the design and construction of the pedestrian bridge, the bridge end walls and the decorative wooded arches to Dane Construction, who then hired and subcontracted the design of the decorative wooded arches to Western Wood Structures in Oregon. Neill Grading said once the arches were manufactured and shipped by Western Wood Structures, Dane Construction installed the arches under the supervision of NCDOT’S third party construction administrators and inspectors.

The statement reads:

“Neill Grading and Construction Co., Inc is under contract with the City of Hickory for the construction of the City Walk Project as the General Contractor. Neill subcontracted the design and construction of the pedestrian bridge, the bridge end walls, and the decorative wooded arches to Dane Construction.

“Dane Construction hired/subcontracted the design and manufacture of the decorative wooded arches to Western Wood Structures of Tualatin, Oregon. Western Wood Structures was one of the three approved companies listed in the bid documents that could be chosen from for the City Walk Project. Dane Construction erected the decorative wooden arches once they were manufactured and shipped to the project site by Western Wood Structures. The installation was done under supervision of the NCDOT’s 3rd party construction administrators and inspectors as well as other organizations.

“While Neill Grading acts as the General Contractor for the City Walk Project, Neill had no direct involvement in the design, manufacture, or erection of the decorative wooden arches. As the General Contractor we provide overall project supervision, as well as organization of the traffic control measures for the road closures and detours during the bridge and decorative wooden arches construction and erection. Neill and Dane had representatives on site shortly after the collapse of the wooden arches early this morning. Dane has been in touch in writing with Western Wood Structures to notify them of the incident and to have them send engineers to survey the site and investigate what could have led to the collapse of the arches.

“While we too are shocked and saddened that this occurred, we are extremely grateful that no injuries were reported as a result of the collapse. As the investigation is just getting underway there are no more details available at this time and we will provide more information as it becomes available.”

Neill Grading and Construction Co., Inc”

The city said the arches were built to withstand 100-mph winds. A cold front pushed through the Carolinas Thursday night that brought showers and winds with gusts up to 35 mph.

The first arch was lifted in March with no problem, but crews stopped work after they tried lifting the second arch. They said they heard popping noises, so the arch was reinforced and re-inspected before it was raised in July 2021.

Officials in Hickory confirmed that the splintering issue last year was “repaired with adhesive, clamps and self-tapping screws.”

NCDOT officials said they had no part in the construction and are not investigating the collapse. However, the city of Hickory said the state had to sign off on a solution after the wood on the arches splintered during construction.

The mayor said there will be inspections and an investigation to try to determine the cause.

Sarah Talbert visits the city walk with her dog everyday and said she’ll miss the huge arches.

“I walk across it every day, sometimes twice a day,” Talbert said. “It’s just sad to see it a pile of rubble right now. I thought it was beautiful.”

Inspections of the bridge itself did not show any damage. The mayor told Faherty it seems very unlikely the arches will be rebuilt but they will possibly consider other options for the pedestrian bridge.

(WATCH BELOW: Hickory City Walk Project continues as crews erect two arches)