This isn't good....

[krazeeboi]

Lowcountry, Midlands have most bad bridges

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The AAA Carolinas says that 10 of the Top 20 substandard bridges in the state can be found in Charleston and Columbia.

The report, released Friday, cites the Interstate 26 bridge in Richland County that passes over CN&L railroad tracks northwest of Columbia as the state's worst bridge. It and other spans in the report are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete under federal standards.

Spartanburg County has 157 substandard bridges - the most in the state - followed by Greenville County's 155.

The AAA says money is a problem for bridge maintenance and earns South Carolina ranking of 20th nationally for substandard spans.

The state has 9,168 bridges and a fifth of them don't meet meet standards, the report said. Replacing them would require $1.6 billion.

South Carolina needs roughly $25 million each year for bridge maintenance, but state transportation officials this year expect to receive $7 million. The report says the state spends $3,806 per mile for road and bridge maintenance - well shy of the $14,761 average.

Twelve of the Top 20 bridges are in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. But three of those have been replaced since the data were collected, five more soon will be replaced, and one is scheduled for replacement.

For instance, the two Cooper River bridges linking Charleston to Mount Pleasant will be replaced with the $632 million Ravenel Bridge by June.

"When the new bridge opens later this year, we'll be able to knock two off the list," said Curtis Brice, a Charleston Transportation Department resident maintenance engineer.

Improvements are coming faster for some bridges because the state change the way it sets priorities for work, said Lee Floyd, the state Transportation Department's bridge inspection engineer. Five years ago, the Transportation Department started considering traffic volume and function. In the past, physical condition of the bridge was the primary criterion.

"I think we are seeing the benefits of that," Floyd said. "It is certainly a little more positive compared to recent reports. But that does not mean we are satisfied with what we have. We still have a funding problem."

Taken from http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/11001022.htm

[Spartan]

Indeed. It should be noted that the Upstate has alot more streams and gorges and whatnot that require bridges, so there are bound to be more substandard ones. Those brigdes are scary as hell to drive over. They are ususally one lane and look like a small tree could knock them over.

[krazeeboi]

Just a few weeks ago, I had to drive over a rickety bridge on my way to Gaffney from Rock Hill. Small, narrow as hell.....I was like, "They've GOT to do better than this."

[emerging.me]

The report, released Friday, cites the Interstate 26 bridge in Richland County that passes over CN&L railroad tracks northwest of Columbia as the state's worst bridge.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm... I'm having trouble picturing this. Where's it at??

[Spartan]

Maybe its in Lexington? I have no clue where that one is. Now I-126 is pretty skanky. They need to rebuild that one soon. Infact, that whole road needs to be redone.

[Charleston native]

Maybe its in Lexington? I have no clue where that one is. Now I-126 is pretty skanky. They need to rebuild that one soon. Infact, that whole road needs to be redone.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Absolutely. That's really the only gateway interstate that leads into downtown, but it is looking pretty old. Definitely needs more lighting.

[Jerseyman4]

Theres a newly built bridge that US 1 goes over just past Camden. It has SC logos along the bridge which is pretty cool. Id like to share a pic i have of it but i dont know how to do it on here (or am i allowed?)

Theres an old bridge that goes between downtown Columbia and West Columbia on US 1 but seems to work very well. I cant contribute much about "bad" bridges in SC that im aware of. I-95 seems to have some narrow bridges with no shoulders along the Pee Dee River and Lake Marion.

[Spartan]

Theres a newly built bridge that US 1 goes over just past Camden. It has SC logos along the bridge which is pretty cool. Id like to share a pic i have of it but i dont know how to do it on here (or am i allowed?) 

Theres an old bridge that goes between downtown Columbia and West Columbia on US 1 but seems to work very well. I cant contribute much about "bad" bridges in SC that im aware of. I-95 seems to have some narrow bridges with no shoulders along the Pee Dee River and Lake Marion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Since you have less than 100 posts you need to go to photobucket and sign up for a free acount. Once you do this you can use the link it provides beneath the picture to paste into your post here.

After you reach 100 posts you will be moved to the Members+ category and you will be able to use UP to host pictures.

The Gervais St Bridge (US-1) is too narrow. I hate being on the outside lane because you have to drive so close to the curb. Its not substandard though, and it does function well.

[JW2]

The Gervais St Bridge (US-1) is too narrow. I hate being on the outside lane because you have to drive so close to the curb. Its not substandard though, and it does function well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then you get people who can't drive who just take up both lanes.

[Jerseyman4]

Thanks Spartan.

Personally, i didnt think the US 1 bridge between downtown and west columbia was all that bad. The Staten Island/NJ Crossings are SOME NARROW bridges. There just as bad as the US 17 NB Pearman Bridge span which i have photos of on expressway site.

http://www.expresswaysite.com/html/sc_17_12.html

Be sure to look for the arrows and click the --> arrow to proceed onto the Pearman

Im aware of the errors on the page, bear with it please as me and Eric start using a new program hopefully in a week or two.

[Jerseyman4]

Until i reach the magic number of 100, heres the link of the photo of the US 1 bridge south of Camden with the cool SC logos.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyma...nt=DSC00552.jpg

[Jerseyman4]

Sorry for the extra post but here are the correct links

(at least im getting closer to 100 posts)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyman4/DSC00604.jpg (Columbia)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyman4/DSC00483.jpg (Pee Dee River)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyman4/DSC00552.jpg (Camden)

Ill dig into my photo file (have at least 1200 of them) see if i can find any more narrow bridge pics within SC.

[Spartan]

Thanks Spartan.

Personally, i didnt think the US 1 bridge between downtown and west columbia was all that bad. The Staten Island/NJ Crossings are SOME NARROW bridges. There just as bad as the US 17 NB Pearman Bridge span which i have photos of on expressway site.

http://www.expresswaysite.com/html/sc_17_12.html

Be sure to look for the arrows and click the --> arrow to proceed onto the Pearman

Im aware of the errors on the page, bear with it please as me and Eric start using a new program hopefully in a week or two.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The two lane bridge is the Grace Bridge, the Pearman is a 3 lane thing that is slightly less precarious to drive across.

To post those images you should use the IMG tags like so:

[img=http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyman4/DSC00604.jpg]

That code will give you this picture:

[Jerseyman4]

The two lane bridge is the Grace Bridge, the Pearman is a 3 lane thing that is slightly less precarious to drive across.

Thanks. Ill note that for the US 17 page.

To post those images you should use the IMG tags like so:

[img=http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Jerseyman4/DSC00604.jpg]

Thanks. I didnt know what that was to begin with.