County Council Frustrated Over Bridge Delays

Repairs on a bridge on Eighteen Mile Road in Central could be completed in four weeks – or six.

County officials expressed frustration over how long the work is taking.

Last year, the piling problems caused the bridge's deck to sink about a foot, necessitating its closure and a detour that takes some residents in that area miles out of their way. The detour is 8.6 miles, according to the SC Department of Transportation.

County Administrator Chap Hurst said he's been receiving calls about the bridge repair.

“It appears it's going to be hopefully four more weeks, but it might be as much as six weeks longer,” Hurst told County Council Monday. “Hopefully by the end of March, but it could drag on a couple more weeks. That's the best information we have as of today.”

“Are we having hindrances in our county because of this bridge” Councilman Trey Whitehurst asked.

Delays in reopening the bridge on Eighteen Mile Road is impacting county residents and services, Hurst said.

“It puts a burden on emergency services,” Hurst said. “You have to go way around, maybe 10-15 more minutes, to get to the other side of where that bridge is on Eighteen Mile Road. Because we don't have another route to take, because that bridge is out, it does place a extreme amount of burden on our emergency services.”

“How long does it to replace a bridge in this county?” Whitehurst asked.

“We did one in two months recently,” Hurst said.

The bridge on Eighteen Mile Road is a state bridge, Whitehurst said.

“We can't do anything about this,” he said. “This is a state bridge and this is your state legislators' responsibility. It's hurting us as a county. It's hurting our accessibility in emergency situations.”

Whitehurst suggested residents complain to legislative delegation members about how long the bridge repair is taking.

“All they've got to do is replace four pilings,” Whitehurst said. “They're not even putting a new bridge in. It's four pilings. It's ridiculous.”

Council Chairman G. Neil Smith said officials often don't understand the frustrations residents feel when a bridge is out.

“When you have to drive four or five miles out of your way, you're going to see,” Smith said.

“If they put a load restriction on that (repaired) bridge, it's going to cause some big problems, because you've got that concrete plant there and that's their access to (Highway 123),” Whitehurst said.

“I thought four to six weeks was what they said in September?” Smith said.

Councilwoman Jennifer Willis said she had a bridge out in her district on Meadow Ridge Road in Easley.

“It's a state bridge also. DOT said four weeks. They also said by Thanksgiving,” she said. “It's March and it's still not done.”

Smith said taxpayers often don't know who is responsible for certain bridges.

“They just know it's out and they're upset,” he said. “I can't blame them.”

Smith said the state needs a plan to replace bridges and “deal with these infrastructure problems” before they go out.

“That's what's so sad about it,” he said.