Broad River Bridge Re-opens

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The Broad River Bridge is back open after being shut down for more than a day after a storm caused a construction crane to shift in the area, prompting officials to close down the bridge. “It could be 24 hours, it could be 3 days, it’s just based on how quickly the water recedes,” says David Rogers, Resident Construction Engineer with the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Tuesday night, Mother Nature shut down the Broad River bridge and put construction crews working on the bridge reconstruction project in a race against the clock. “This river is unique and this area is unique in that the water fluctuates in height, very quickly, very rapidly,” says Rogers. “We didn’t have enough time to get our crane out of the water,” says Kayla Sapp, Project Engineer with Rea Construction, the company in charge of the reconstruction project, says the river rose 9 to 10 feet yesterday. Sapp says with that type of gain crews needed at least twenty-four hours notice to deal with the situation, they had less than twelve. “It was a nail biter,” says Sapp. A near recipe for disaster. “Worst case scenario the crane will hit the bridge, the boom will be damaged and come toward traffic,” says Sapp. Crews were left with no choice but to close the bridge. “We just want to make sure it’s safe for both the motoring public, for the motorists and for the crane operator,” says Rogers. The bridge was to remain closed at least until Noon on Thursday, but officials re-opened the bridge Thursday morning.