WARNING: DANGER AHEAD …
By FITSNEWS || Residents of Lancaster County, S.C. are furious with Gov. Nikki Haley‘s Department of Transportation (SCDOT) over the agency’s failure to address structural issues with a local bridge.
“It is the worst bridge some engineers have seen in their career,” one SCDOT whistleblower told FITS. “One side of it is about to fall in at any moment but SCDOT won’t fix it. They won’t even post a weight limit on the bridge.”
The bridge – which carries State Highway 9 over Wildcat Creek – has been brought to the attention of this troubled agency on repeated occasions in the past.
In fact television station WBTV TV-3 (CBS – Charlotte, N.C.) did a report on the bridge back in March – but SCDOT officials refused to comment for that story. Not only that, multiple engineering firms in the Charlotte area refused WBTV’s offer to pay for a professional assessment of the bridge’s condition because they were fearful of “losing business” with SCDOT.
Amazing …
Here’s a picture of the bridge that was taken back in March …
(Click to enlarge)
(Pic: Submitted)
And here’s a picture taken this week …
(Click to enlarge)
(Pic: Submitted)
Yikes …
“It looks like it’s dropped down even slightly further since March,” our whistleblower noted. “If a heavy truck or a school bus passes over it could collapse and throw the vehicle into the creek and kill the occupants. SCDOT doesn’t care.”
An estimated 4,500 vehicles – including school buses and numerous semi-trailer trucks – pass over this bridge every day.
SCDOT is reportedly making repairs on multiple bridges in Lancaster County, although this isn’t one of them. In fact not only was the bridge left off the S.C. General Assembly’s recently approved $53 million bridge replacement program – we’re told the SCDOT district office responsible for Lancaster County “dismantled the bridge repair team that would go around and temporarily repair bridges like this.”
Wow …
More to the point: South Carolina continues to grow its state budget by hundreds of millions of dollars each year – even as its workforce (and the money its workers bring home) remains stagnant.
How on earth do taxpayers have the money to subsidize nonsense like this … yet no money to address critical structural needs?
Seriously: Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are being poured into totally unnecessary, politically motivated projects … and yet every day thousands of people are forced to traverse bridges that could collapse beneath them at any moment?
Sheesh …
56 comments
That’s nothing compared to the old Cooper River bridge in its last few years.
Exactly, but structural engineer Sic Willie didn’t inspect that one and provide his engineering analysis accompanied by his calculations. Sic Willie is a renaissance man. He is, among other things, an aeronautical engineer, an electronic/electrical engineer and a structural engineer.
You really hate coming here all day to get fake news huh?
I have just learned in another article that he is also an epidemiologist.
IRT his blog, he hides behind his masthead of “unfair, imbalanced”. Readers need to call him out on his supermarket tabloid stories so that his fake news doesn’t lull readers into thinking they are well researched and well documented truth similar to what REAL journalists do.
So your mission is to inform everyone that Will is full of shit?
Depends on your definition of Will’s utterances. Mostly he knows he is but he wants to drive home his agenda. It is just fun pointing it out.
So you know what he thinks too? You’re awesome.
I’m glad you’re having fun.
He lays out his thoughts and his channeling of Ron Paul daily. He even tells you beforehand. So it does require ESP.
The movie “Grumpy Old Men” comes to mind. But then, those lacking self esteem have also been known to find pleasure in attempting to belittle others. Can we say, “poisoned blood”?
Didn’t it score a 3 on a 100 point scale?
See, if we just passed private school vouchers, the bridge could get a better education and score higher.
Yeah! Our current education system is just fine.
I remember seeing the rusty, deflected steel beams on the spans that were tearing at the rivet points.
It was then I decided that going 70 over that bridge was a necessity; either to jump the falling pieces in front of me or to outrun the falling pieces behind me. That, and it scared the crap out of the yankees at the bottom of the span 1 (coming from Mt P) where it got skinny. I always loved to see them pucker up when I’d go two wide there.
I took an 18 wheeler over the old Cooper River Bridge just before they closed it to trucks. That was a ride I will never forget. The really bad part was meeting another truck on it.
Wait till it falls and somebody gets seriously injured. Then they’ll do something. Here in Chesterfield County, last summer and the summer before they repaved 2 sections of Route 9, but they were not the worst sections of the road! The worst section remains pretty shabby and bumpy, and there are other areas that are pretty bad. Why would they spend all that time and money on road sections that were not that bad and leave those for yeas that are terrible? On 268, a two-lane, they keep patching holes, some of which immediately sink in. I think they’ve patched 3-4 times – the same holes – since spring this year. Waste of time and money. Sounds like a very poorly run department to me.
I agree with you. The DOT workers in Chesterfield Co. are too busy looking for a wooded area to hide in around 3PM each waiting on “quittin” time. This includes the road crews and the bridge crew. The bridge crew comes by Bojangles in Chesterfield around 7:30 AM every morning for their morning biscuit and iced tea. Not much leadership in DOT in Chesterfield Co.
The problem isn’t on the worker level. They are only a reflection of the management or lack thereof. Just like any other bureaucracy — go to work, do the least , go home, collect retirement. There is no incentive to do a good job because someone up the ladder will get the reward.
That’s very true – there’s obviously very little management and/or leadership.
You seem to think your an expert on what the DOT workers are doing day to day.
It’s pretty easy to figure out what they’re doing when you ride down the roads of Chesterfield Co. and see 4 or 5 of them sitting in a truck backed up in a small side road at 3:30 in the afternoon. Those yellow trucks are relatively easy to spot.
You must be a smart feller. Since you know or think you know about the crews.
That is something I have never been able to find an answer to. Why repave a reasonably good stretch of road and leave a much worse section just down the road to go to nothing ? A terrible waste of tax money that could be used many other places.
Nikki Haley could give a shit. South Carolina the new India. And idiot voters will vote for her next month.
Not in Lexington! Maybe a packed school bus will fall into the water an kill a few more kids. Is that what she wants?
Didn’t you, AlGore and Ted Danson tell us the sun would crash into the Earth was imminent about 10 years ago. LMAO….
That Winthrop poll has you crapping all over yourselves, doesn’t it? Remember the campaign wroker told me last week he was being moved to La. because SC was over……(: Why are you losing?…Look what Obama and Reid did to the Democrat brand…Hahahaha..The GOP could not have destroyed you (I could) like you’ve done by being yourselves, if they wanted to. Hahahahaha….
Anyway: we got a piece up on it at SCPSD…check it out if you want a little more accuate account… (:
It was actually 11 years ago and it was planet Nibiru that was supposed to come by the Earth and cause a pole shift. Sheesh, looks like we need to get our disasters in order.
A bit more information: http://uglybridges.com/1485712
Its between lancaster and 501.
Who knew there was a “People of Wal Mart” site for bridges?
601. It would be way more accurate to say between Buford crossroads and Hwy. 601.
I used to know a girl from Buford Crossroads. A fine one she was, too.
The problem is apparent in the lack of Duct Tape in the pictures.
Sure glad I didn’t build that.
It was built in 1946
So was I and I’m in a lot better shape.
Oh but wait until Nikki comes out with her “roads plan” in January!! hahahaha
If that bridge causes people to be harmed or killed as a result of what is evident in these photos (and I clicked on them for the full size), SCDOT officials and Haley will likely be facing federal criminal charges. This screams for immediate attention – yesterday!
Will, have you contacted anyone in main stream media about this? SCDOT? If you have , or do, document it. This is some pretty serious shit. Families, loved ones, children that travel across this bridge are being put in grave danger.
And, they are apparently just too stupid to shut it down and put up a detour.
Nimrata makes a difference.
“How on earth do taxpayers have the money to subsidize nonsense like this … yet no money to address critical structural needs?”
Because they elect Republican legislators who sign Grover Norquist’s no new taxes pledge and haven’t raised the gas tax since 1987. And, are too stupid to know roads are about as core a core function of government as you can get.
The 2nd of the two photos, with the second being the most recent since March 2014, clearly shows this bridge could go at any moment. SCDOT better act now. It is also noted, that SCDOT officials have refused to respond to media inquires about this bridge and it current deadly state. If anyone speaks to SCDOT, better record your phone call(s) with them. This is a serious situation. Lancaster country should act to protect it’s citizens, seeming that SCDOT will not. This bridge needs to be shut now right now.
Nothing sexy about repairing old bridges, especially in rural areas.
The votes come from building new roads….the 1/2 billion I-526 extension and the 2 1/2 billion I-73 Yankeeland to Myrtle Beach Expressway come to mind.
I-526 Extension is much more than a 1/2 Billion ….. its edged towards ONE Billion now. Keep up with current estimated cost, please.
Just finish I-526!
Exactly, let’s build more since we can’t find a use for that 1/2 (or 1) billion that this will cost elsewhere in the state.
You don’t half way build an Intersate that causes traffic jams miles long because the powers that be decided it would be a good idea to complete later. Well guess what now it’s costing three times more to build than 25 years ago.
JUST FINISH I-526!!!!!
I don’t know who’s responsible for the lack of Bridges being repaired. But I know we are not lack in our tax dollars. Being that said it’s costing me more gas to do other routes because the bridges on the secondary roads are OUT! not to mention the extra miles I’m putting on my car. Looks like we are f****** all the way around……don’t know who dragging their feet on Camp Creek Road (Bridge) Lancaster or Chesterfield but I’m tired of the Detours….Literally. ….
I don’t know who’s responsible for the lack of Bridges being repaired. But I know we are not lack in our tax dollars. Being that said it’s costing me more gas to do other routes because the bridges on the secondary roads are OUT! not to mention the extra miles I’m putting on my car. Looks like we are f****** all the way around……don’t know who dragging their feet on Camp Creek Road (Bridge) Lancaster or Chesterfield but I’m tired of the Detours….Literally. ….
SC political logic: Don’t fix the bridge till it falls in, then instead of a few million to fix the bridge we can spend several million o n lawyers, law suits and still have to rebuild the bridge.
Y’all jess wants to bitches bout sumtin all dey dams times
I’m glad this was brought to my attention this is horrible my mom drives for walmart distribution so this is very scary.
Absolutely NO bridge repair until the flowers and trees are planted around the state.
Next is a blackmail for the taxpayers to approve “mo Money” for roads, taxes
will be for the “po chilren” to have a safe ride on the nasty ole highways.
Lexington County example “1cent tax for roads” really means less than 20% for roads
and the rest for municipal beautification projects.
Are you not tired of these Idiots..?
A survey crew told me,three years ago,a small bridge over I-26, nearby, could fall any day.Instead,they spent that money on cop cars,and extra cops,so they can make more petty drug busts,and stop outlaws going 37 in a 35..
How immature can one be???? Nikki Haley said she had a secret for fixing the roads in SC; but, she is not telling until AFTER the election!!!!! STUPID! SILLY! POLITICS!!!
The bridge from 521 crossing to Hwy 5 heading toward Rock Hill is in horrible shape.
Isn’t it about time for Nikki to take a hike?
On the Appalachian trail..
Welcome to South Carolina. Smiling faces, beautiful places.
I live near Riverside Rd. Horrible, horrible roads..coming down that road last week during the rain, I thought I was going to heaven a little early…Water standing in the road all the
way…People use this road to travel to Rock Hill and beyond…Worse roads in the county, in my opinion.