Routine inspections being performed at Horry County area bridges

The S.C. Department of Transportation is performing routine inspections of area bridges this week as part of its annual maintenance program.

The Socastee and Little River swing bridges are being inspected this week, but that is not expected to impact traffic, said Pete Poore, spokesman for the SCDOT.

“This inspection as well as the inspection of a series of bridges in that area is part of the asset management program,” Poore said. “The contractor is performing routine inspections to detect any problems early.”

In May 2014, the Socastee Swing Bridge was closed for a short time when workers repaired a hole that had developed in the road near the bridge. Gradual wear and tear from traffic caused a tiny hole to eventually erode into a sinkhole.

Poore said a report on the bridges may take a while.

“It will be days or even weeks before the contractor files the report with our bridge maintenance office, depending upon how many bridges are being inspected,” Poore said. “The inspections are still in progress. Once the contractor has completed the inspection, a report will be sent to our state bridge engineer for evaluation.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Routine inspections being performed at Horry County area bridges."