PICKENS COUNTY — In the past few weeks, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has put up around 70 signs near bridges in Pickens County forcing everything from garbage trucks to emergency vehicles to be rerouted due to new weight restrictions.
Pickens County officials said more signs could be coming.
SCDOT states the restrictions follow a mandate by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), requiring the bridges to be surveyed to determine load capacity.
“Every so often a survey of bridges is conducted or required by the Federal Highway Administration to determine the load capacity, which means simply, how heavily a truck can travel over this bridge and still be safe and not damage the bridge,” said Director of Communications at SCDOT, Pete Poore. “So we’re going through that survey if you will, state-wide to examine all the bridges and to determine what the load rating is, again how much weight can that bridge stand. That’s why you’re seeing signs like that not only in Pickens County — but all across the state.”
In short, the FHA requires periodic load ratings, which identify the loading capacity for each bridge.
Officials at SCDOT said the mandate was a new federal requirement (within the last 18 months) and that emergency vehicles are rated for bridges in which they are legally allowed to cross. If a bridge is determined to be unable to withstand maximum legal loading for many cycles — the bridge must be load restricted.
But while the mandate is designed for safety, it’s causing headaches within the Pickens County Administration as angry residents are turning to county officials — instead of SCDOT — to voice their grievances over the new weight restrictions.
According to local officials, the county currently maintains 72 bridges. Of those, five are posted with weight restrictions. Meanwhile, the state currently maintains more than 200 bridges within Pickens County.
“The weight restrictions pose challenges to county operations as well, particularly for emergency response vehicles and public works vehicles and equipment that exceed the weight limit,” officials said in a released statement. “County staff (Emergency Services, Public Works and GIS/Mapping) have identified this as a problem and are working together to find alternate routes for both county vehicles and the public; however, the data is still being collected as new signage appears each week.”
County Administrator Ken Roper expressed frustration with the situation saying the new new weight limitations on state bridges will only serve to “stress our county road system further as truckers and other heavy vehicles are forced off state roads and on to our quieter local streets.”
“The limits will also make us adjust emergency vehicle routes, which could impact response times to our citizens in need,” Roper said. “I wonder if the SCDOT in Columbia thought about these unintended consequences when they ordered this sudden cluttering up of our community with these now ubiquitous signs?”
One county official said he thought SCDOT “dropped the ball” when it came to communication and helping the County plan for the new restrictions. Conversely, SCDOT states notification letters alerting local counties to the upcoming change went out on Nov. 10, 2020.
Regardless, the new signage is unlikely to go away any time soon.
“Weight restrictions are determined on a case by case basis for each bridge. These are based on the results of the load rating process, which consider thing like what the bridge was designed to hold, age, condition, and other factors,” SCDOT representatives said in an email. “The weight restrictions remain in place until there is a change to the structural capacity of the bridge. SCDOT is actively making repairs where appropriate. In some cases, a full bridge replacement will be needed to remove the restriction.”
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.