THE CAROLINA STATES EDITION
A Supplement to:
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November 3 2010
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Vol. XXII • No. 22
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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Carolina States Connection • Richard McKeon, Charlotte, NC 1-800-288-4234
Work Proceeds on Large Bridge in Cinematic Beaufort By Peter Hildebrandt CEG CORRESPONDENT
With movies like Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides, being filmed there, the Beaufort, S.C., area has become established on the big screen as a place of memorable magnificence, with its graceful bridges and scenic waterways. Area highway construction is working at keeping both the town’s bridges practical, efficient, well-built and unobtrusively picturesque. Building is under way on the twin bridge to the existing McTeer Bridge (SC 802) over the Beaufort River (Intracoastal Waterway) from Ladies Island to Port Royal, S.C. The new structure rises and falls over the water of the tidal river and nearby salt marshes while at the same time providing an inviting means across the water— just in case one’s Boston whaler, sunfish or kickboard don’t happen to be handy. The new bridge is a two-lane, fixed-span, reinforced concrete bridge. Traffic will continue on the older span, built in 1978 and still structurally sound. This older span currently has 20,000 cars per day on average passing over it. In the end, the new two-lane bridge will be all eastbound and the older two-lane bridge will be all westbound. This project will alleviate traffic for residents of Ladies Island, Fripp Island, Port Royal and surrounding communities. Currently the project has some 65 workers. On average the project maintains 55 people involved in the work. Work started on this project in September of 2009 and is projected to be complete by the end of July in 2011. The price of the bridge is $35 million with a total project value of about $52 million for the overall initiative, including the road work being done by Sanders Brothers Construction Company Inc., Charleston, S.C. The bridge is 4,211 ft. (1,283 m) long with a main span of 170 ft. (51.8 m) long and 65 ft. (19.8 m) above high water
Currently there are a total of nine cranes on site in use between Misener Marine and United Contractors.
level. The prime contractor, United Contractors LLC, is responsible for management of all of the superstructure work and pile driving on the bridge, while Misener Marine, the major sub-contractor, is responsible for all substructure work and mass concrete pours for the main spans. Donald Anderson, project manager of United Contractors, explained that the largest challenge on this job has been the high fluctuation in tides and the strong current that runs through this stretch of river. This challenge has been over-
come and has become easier to handle as the crews gain more experience working with it. The general superintendent on the job, Duane Lightsey, started his career working out of high school by finishing up the old bridge that is next to the new bridge he’s now working on. He worked on the first bridge as a skilled laborer for one of United Contractors’ founding companies, Ryan Inc. “The majority of the people that were associated with building the old McTeer bridge are still around in our see BEAUFORT page 6