Enterprise Road bridge repair work on track to be completed by late June

SOCASTEE, S.C. (WMBF) - The Socastee community has spent the last five months divided, but the two sides may be reunited soon.

Repair work is almost complete on the bridge on Enterprise Road, which was shut down in December after an oversized load on a tractor-trailer smashed into it.

“I can see where people are like, ‘bridge open up!’ because it is a lot of cars trying to get through,” said Candice Dabbs, who lives on Enterprise Road.

Dabbs has one of the closest houses to the east side of the bridge.

Since it shut down in December for repairs, folks heading to Socastee Recreational Park and Osprey Marina have had to take the long way around.

That makes Dabbs feel like she’s taken on a new job as the Socastee informational guide.

“They’ve stopped at my house, they’ve stopped at everyone’s house, knocking on doors because they simply just don’t get it,” she said.

She hasn’t loved being in charge of directions, but she says there have been some benefits to the closure.

“It’s just so much traffic for the two lanes here with how much has been developed over on Bay Road,” said Dabbs.

She says watching the bridge closure make cars pump the brakes has been a relief.

A relief that may be coming to an end soon, as the South Carolina Department of Transportation reports the bridge is on track for completion by the end of June.

“There were two beams damaged that were hit,” said Pete Poore, SCDOT spokesperson. “One was only slightly damaged and was able to be repaired. The other one required replacement, so a new beam had to be cast.”

Dabbs says she’s seen the crews working day and night to get that new beam installed, which is in there now as the work wraps up.

Although Dabbs isn’t thrilled, it’s a welcome sight for the team at Osprey Marina, where the season is really starting to pick up.

“We try to get boats in a timely fashion, so when customers can’t get here, whenever we get busy, it just impedes operations,” said Noah Dumont, an employee at Osprey Marina.

Dabbs is just hoping those bridge closure signs are replaced with caution signs to slow drivers down once the bridge reopens.

“There’s been a lot of people hit through the years on this road, and I think if they could put up some caution about children at play, or there’s neighborhoods all throughout,” she said.

While work wraps up in Socastee, SCDOT is just starting to ramp up work on another bridge in Horry County.

A department spokesperson says they’ll be adding a metal sheet to the bottom of the Conway Main Street Bridge, to catch debris falling from the underside.

That should make it safe to walk under again, but no date has been announced for when that will be complete.

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