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Emergency crews in Pickens County, South Carolina responded on Monday afternoon (July 21, 2025) to a bridge collapse that left a portion of S.C. Highway 133 impassable – prompting an investigation into the cause of the collapse and a push to rebuild the damaged overpass as quickly as possible.
At approximately 1:40 p.m. EDT, the Shady Grove Fire Department (SGFD) responded to reports of the collapse of the bridge which carries Crowe Creek Road over the Ellenburg Branch of Lake Keowee. Images of the collapse posted to social media showed a portion of the entire southbound lane of the highway no longer visible – having completely collapsed into the lake below.
According to officials, no one was injured during the collapse – and no vehicles or pedestrians were found in the water below. That assessment was confirmed by Malarkey News, which posted several images of the collapse on its social media pages…
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The bridge on Crowe Creek Rd in Pickens SC (Hwy 133) has collapsed. Find alternate routes!
— @malarkey_news (@malarkeynews1) July 21, 2025
There are NO injuries and NO vehicles in the water.@SCDOTPiedmont#malarkeynews pic.twitter.com/GV4rIwq96b
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In a statement issued at 3:50 p.m. EDT, the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) announced the closure of “the bridge on Crowe Creek Road following damage to the bridge.”
“SCDOT was alerted by law enforcement to severe damage to a bridge on Crowe Creek Road and crews are working to install a closure and detour,” the agency noted. “SCDOT will begin an immediate assessment to determine the extent of the damage and a plan to replace the bridge.”
Along with SCDOT officials, deputies with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) are responding to the scene.
Below is the detour map provided by SCDOT…
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S.C. Highway 133 runs for approximately 20.5 miles from Clemson, S.C. to the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway (a.k.a. S.C. Highway 11) – just south of the Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards near Sunset, S.C. The road connects Clemson and western Pickens County to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It’s been a rough summer for bridges in the Palmetto State. Just last month, an 18-wheeler carrying approximately 8,500 gallons of gasoline on Interstate 20 was involved in a collision and struck an overpass bridge on Old Vaucluse Road just north of Graniteville, S.C.
That crash led to the collapse of the overpass, and a mad scramble by SCDOT and other responding agencies to remove the debris and reopen the Interstate.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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2 comments
We have a lot of bridges that need replacing. Don’t know where the penny tax went from several years and idiots still voted to pass another one. Crazy to continue giving irresponsible people our money.
Drove over that bridge two weekends ago. What happened to the gas tax increase money? 12 cents a gallon and I can’t find a whole lot of changes. I-95 is a minefield of potholes, I-20 ain’t any better and I’ll drive down SR 176 or 178 to avoid I-26. The state gets 28 cents a gallon, the state sold something like 256,000,000 gallons of gasoline. Unless my basic math skills are worse than I think, that’s something like $72,000,000 they have to work with.