AAA Carolinas: Three Richland County Bridges Among State's Worst

Three bridges in Richland County are among AAA Carolinas' list of the state's substandard overpasses.

A 55-year-old bridge carrying more than a half-million vehicles each week is rated South Carolina’s top substandard bridge for the 12th time, according to AAA Carolinas.

The Interstate 26 bridge that passes over C.N. & L. Railroad, three miles northwest of Columbia, has been number one on the list every year since 2000 except in 2009, when it was number two, according to the report. The bridge was built in 1958.

The other Richland County bridges include US 176 over Broad River, two miles northwest of Columbia, and I-126 over Southern Railroad. The two are ranked Nos. 19 and 20, respectively, on the list. 

View the full list here. 

Only one of the three bridges are under construction, US 176. That bridge was built in 1930.

"Inadequate funding for road and bridge maintenance over the past decade means we still have a significant number of substandard bridges in South Carolina,” David E. Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas said in a release. “We need to find new sources of funding for our state’s Department of Transportation.”

South Carolina has the lowest highway funding per mile in the country, with the fourth-largest state-maintained highway system, covering more than 41,000 miles, according to AAA Carolinas

AAA Carolinas’ 2013 rankings found:

• The average age of AAA Carolinas’ top 20 substandard bridges in South Carolina is 53 years, compared to 57 last year.
• The top 20 substandard bridges on AAA Carolinas’ list carry an average of 53,645 vehicles daily.
• Combined, the top 20 bridges carry more than 7.5 million vehicles each week. 
• A total of 1,823 bridges are substandard, down 57 from the 1,880 bridges listed in AAA’s 2012 report.

AAA Carolinas has been rating the state’s bridges since 1998, giving extra emphasis to the amount of traffic a bridge carries because of the effect on commuters and travelers. AAA Carolinas’ rankings are based on sufficiency ratings and traffic counts provided by SCDOT.

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