The state Department of Transportation is expected to begin work this month to replace a bridge over the Lumber River in Wagram.

The state will spend $2.6 million to complete the work, the DOT announced on Monday.

The bridge is on U.S. 401 at the Hoke-Scotland county line near Wagram.

DOT spokesman Steve Abbott said that the 64-year-old structure is considered functionally obsolete, which means while it is safe, it was not built to current design standards and is unable to properly handle the volume of traffic it now carries.

A temporary bridge will be built parallel to the current bridge to handle traffic during the construction so drivers won’t have to deal with a detour, Abbott said.

The Tara Group of Lumberton was awarded the contract to replace the

Work on the project is expected to begin as early as Dec. 31, with the new bridge in place by Nov. 15, 2014. Additional planting and vegetation work can take until May 14, 2015.

The work is one of 22 contracts totaling $67.1 million awarded by Secretary Conti in November for highway and bridge projects across North Carolina. NCDOT awarded the contracts to the lowest bidders, as required by state law. The bids received on the projects awarded came in about 6.2 percent, or $4.5 million, below NCDOT estimates.

Since January of 2009, NCDOT has awarded 749 highway contracts totaling $5.1 billion to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to jobs and educational opportunities.