Barriers tested: Floodwater inches closer to U.S. 501 lanes

Water has reached the northbound lanes of U.S 501 Bypass over the Waccamaw River. Now the barriers of sand lining the road will be tested, seeing if they can actually keep the important route into Myrtle Beach open to traffic as water rises.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation posted photos on its Facebook page of the bridge on Monday afternoon. According to the photos, water is now pooling up in the right lane of the bridge and has not yet covered the entire northbound lane.

Currently, U.S. 501 is still open in both directions, but down to two lanes on the bridge into Conway.

But the river is still rising. The Waccamaw is expected to crest at 22-feet deep in Conway on Wednesday. The water is currently at 20-feet deep.

A similar barrier will be built on U.S 17 near Georgetown as flooding threatens the roadway.

The barriers began almost immediately after Tropical Storm Florence left the area in an effort to curb the flooding of important roadways.

Initially the City of Conway Council had hesitations about allowing the project, but decided to allow it once evidence showed it would not contribute to flooding.

“We were unanimous in this decision once we learned that it will have no impact on flooding additional homes in the Conway area,” council member William Goldfinch IV said in a post following the decision to drop opposition tot he barriers.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 2:44 PM.