SCDOT to replace 10 bridges damaged in tropical storms as cleanup continues

Stacks of logs sit outside the home of Lucas Charbeneau in McCormick County on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Charbeneau estimates 30 to 40 trees came down on his property of less than three acres during Helene. (Abraham Kenmore/SC Daily Gazette).

COLUMBIA — Ten state-owned bridges need replacing after suffering damage from tropical storms Debby and Helene in August and September, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The department’s crews are still cleaning up debris left behind when Helene swept through the state as a tropical storm in September, killing 49 people as it toppled trees, flooded some roads and downed power lines.

Following the storm, Department of Transportation crews and contractors hired for 16 counties began removing fallen trees from state-owned roads and residents’ roadside piles of fallen limbs and other debris. Work for the remaining 98 state crews and 214 contractor teams is focused on picking up downed trees littering roadsides, according to the transportation department.

Since October, when work began, crews have collected more than 1.1 million cubic yards of debris, according to a news release. That’s enough to fill about 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Helene came just over a month after Tropical Storm Debby dumped water across the state. Flooding from both storms damaged 10 bridges so extensively that they can’t be repaired and must be replaced, according to a department news release. The department did not provide estimates Friday as to how much the replacements would cost.

All 10 bridges slated for replacement are currently closed, with detours in place. Construction on all 10 is expected to take about eight months once work begins, according to the department.

For the most part, the bridges slated for replacement are in the Upstate and along the Georgia and North Carolina borders, which were some of the hardest-hit parts of the state during Helene. Among them are routes through downtown Greenville, portions of federal highways through Oconee and Jasper counties, and an access road in Jones Gap State Park, which remains closed because of storm damages.

Earlier this year, the department added 120 bridges to the docket for repairs after receiving $200 million in the state budget. The 10 emergency repairs were not already slated for fixes under that program, which is focused on bridges that have exceeded their expected lifespans. The department’s hope is that the $200 million is the first of five installments, amounting to the $1 billion needed to fix all the bridges that need repairs or replacement.