Small Town News

The sky is falling!

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Chunks of concrete fall from Main Street Bridge

Fist-size pieces of concrete falling from underneath the Main Street Memorial Bridge concerned city officials enough to ask the Farmer's Market to move, but officials with the S.C. Department of Transportation say the bridge is safe.

However, after DOT's evaluation, larger pieces, one at least 12-inches by about 3-inches, fell, which prompted city officials Monday to ask for a second evaluation.

Dennis Townsend with the SCDOT, said an evaluation was completed and determined the bridge was structurally sound.

Conway city administrator Bill Graham said the City was made aware of the falling pieces and was, of course, concerned about the safety of large crowds gathering under the bridge on Saturday mornings for the farmer's market.

"The DOT was particularly concerned with large crowds of people standing with the farmer's market under the bridge, so they asked if we could look for a different location," Graham said.

The market has moved only yards away near the tractor shed, where it will close out the season.

Graham said farmer's market organizer Blake Lanford originally brought it to his attention after Lanford said he had picked up several small pieces of concrete under the bridge.

Graham says there have been reports of injuries. Lanford said he didn't want to create a panic; he just wanted the city to be aware of the falling concrete.

"It's an old bridge and it is no one's fault. That stuff happens," Lanford said. "I brought it to the attention of the city, and everything was fine with the stability of the bridge after the assessment, but I still felt like there might be a litde liability."

Graham says he wrote a second letter to Townsend Monday asking for another evaluation of the bridge.

Lanford said organizers always planned to eventually move the farmer's market from under the bridge, because it was not the best spot for it.

"It was the inevitable, we always knew we were going to have to move the market, because of various reasons such as parking, electricity and storage," Lanford said.

"It worked good, but it's not the best. We always realized we were going to have to move it in the near future."

Lanford said ideally he would have liked to have a more permanent facility such as an open-air pavilion.

"Now that we are almost done with this season, we can explore the options that are open to us to build a permanent facility to be used year round. We need some serious public and private momentum behind this thing, and really need to take a lead role," Lanford said. "There is no reason we couldn't build a new facility if we wanted."

Although the farmer's market has moved, the sidewalk leading from Main Street to Conway's popular Riverwalk winds under the bridge, but Graham says phase three of the riverwalk plan rerouted visitors anyway.

"Now we have gateway entrances near Kingston Street and the Side-wheeler and the primary entrance on Laurel Street, so we expect most visitors will use those entrances, which will keep them away from the bridge," Graham said.

Also, signs previously posted on Third Avenue directing people to the Riverwalk underneath the bridge have been removed, according to Graham.

Townsend said the DOT will be coming out to take a second look at the bridge and that there may not be a problem with it at all. They just don't know yet.

"We are going to take a harder look at it. It could just be cosmetic, we don't know," Townsend said. "We will be taking a more specialized approach this time, and there may be that there is no problem at all, so there is certainly no need for panic or a whole lot of concern."

Townsend said they certainly don't want anyone to be hurt, so they are planning a thorough assessment.

Graham said the City is on top of the issue.

"We are concerned and we are in touch with the highway department and we are trying to deal with it in a timely fashion," Graham said.

Editor Kathy Ropp contributed to this story.

"It's an old bridge and it is no one's fault. That stuff happens."

Blake Lanford

Farmers Market organizer



Copyright 2009 The Horry Independent, Conway, South Carolina. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Horry Independent Conway, South Carolina. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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