Beresford Creek Bridge Update: Bridge will stay open until mid-July

At an informational meeting held by the City of Charleston at the Daniel Island Recreation Center on June 15, city officials provided an updated timeline on the Beresford Creek Bridge replacement project. The bridge now will remain open and passable until mid-July, when officials anticipate that utility relocation will wrap up and demolition will begin. At that time, the bridge will close to pedestrian and vehicle traffic and is expected to remain closed until the new bridge opens in April, 2024.

 

The new span will include two 11-foot lanes, two 4-foot shoulders and an 8-foot multi-use path and will be 4-feet taller than the existing structure. 

 

The project was originally expected to get underway in 2022, but was postponed due to utility relocation permitting delays. 

 

Mayor John Tecklenburg, who attended the informational session, explained that the Beresford Creek Bridge is one of 12 bridges that the city owns. Payment for the $2.875 million project will come from the city’s general fund, he said. Unlike many of the bridges in the region, it is not owned by the state or the county.

 

During the closure, the on and off ramps for I-526 East and West will be the only means of entering or leaving the island for business, recreation or emergency evacuation. Residents living and working on St. Thomas Island Drive and the surrounding communities will have to access Daniel Island via Clements Ferry Road to I-526.

 

Residents voiced concern about the inconvenience of a nine-month closure, at the meeting, on Facebook and via the paper’s survey (see page 6 for resident survey comments).

 

 “I’m sure they are going to take every effort to expedite this thing if they can,” Tecklenburg said.

 

City councilman and Daniel Island resident Boyd Gregg was sympathetic, “I understand the inconvenience of nine months more than anybody – I drive across that bridge everyday – but nine months is a really, really, really good timeline for something like this.”

 

Gregg, who is also a professional engineer, added, “That is actually really fast to get a bridge torn down and replaced. Nine months is commendable.”

 

The bridge is being constructed by Cape Romain Contractors. The project engineer is Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT), Inc.

 

Mayor Tecklenburg said he is thankful that the bridge is being replaced, adding, “It really needed replacement and now we’ll have a piece of reliable infrastructure for decades to come.”