ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Construction crews rebuilding a bridge in the Pigeon River Gorge are doing more than improving a major Interstate 40 crossing. They are also creating new habitat for bats — including endangered species — in a first-of-its-kind project in North Carolina.
At Exit 15 along I-40, the replacement of the aging bridge over the Pigeon River prompted concerns from wildlife officials after bats were observed roosting in the existing structure. The new bridge design, however, would not provide the same crevices and shelter bats had relied on.
“To replace that lost habitat, we needed to give the bats somewhere else to go,” said Holland Youngman, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service…