The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in the US is asking energy exploration companies to pay to repair state roads after completing a fracking operation.

According to NCDOT, the two-lane country roads criss-cross North Carolina’s rural counties as drilling is heavily dependent on 18-wheel rigs, dump and tanker trucks, which chew the roads up.

The agency is set to submit a study as part of the process, when fracking begins as early as mid-2015 and when the state’s safety rules go into effect for energy exploration.

"The study was requested to examine the impact of fracking on local roads, especially in the counties of Lee, Moore and Chatham."

The study was requested to examine the impact of fracking on local roads, especially in the counties of Lee, Moore and Chatham.

Transport engineer Brandon Jones said a surety bond of $100,000 a mile of roadway used to haul equipment and materials will be needed to insure that drillers restore damaged roads to their original condition.

Bridge repairs are expected to cost more than $600 a square foot, but the transport officials have requested surety bonds of $360 for each square foot.

In order to do away with ambiguity about the transportation department’s authority to enforce repairs, lawmakers will be asked to write road use maintenance agreements into state law.

Repairs for secondary roads that were not meant for heavy truck traffic are also covered in the agreements.