SCDOT Commission approves Florence County bridge replacement

The S.C. Department of Transportation Commission has approved replacing the bridge on Papermill Road over Jefferies Creek in Florence County.

Commissioner Marvin Stevenson, who represents the 6th Congressional District, moved for the action to be taken durign the commission’s most recent meeting.

The bridge was originally built in 1962 and is classified as “structurally deficient.” Estimates for the project are in excess of $1 million.

Stevenson said the bridge on Papermill Road over Jefferies Creek has been a significant concern in the past few months. The bridge serves local industry, but was load restricted last fall. This forced trucks exceeding the load restriction to detour nearly 11 miles, causing increased costs for the company and consumers.

In addition to more than 200 trucks servicing Smurfit-Stone, Johnson Controls Inc. is planning a battery recycling center just north of this area, creating 250 jobs. This is expected to add to the daily traffic on the Papermill Road bridge.

“This bridge replacement is an economic development project that will help businesses and jobs in this area of Florence County,” Stevenson said in a SCDOT press release. “I am very thankful to my colleagues on the commission for seeing the urgency in this project, making it a priority and giving unanimous approval to my motion.”