Tony Fallaw, project manager with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) told town Traffic Engineer Brad Morrison that they’ve received notice from FHWA that the officials from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) District Seven Command Center out of Miami have indicated they have not relinquished their position that 50’ is their desired bridge height.

Therefore, in the next couple weeks, SCDOT will submit an official permit application for the 35’ height that Mount Pleasant Town Council and Berkeley County Council agreed to. The USCG will put out a notice for the area within 1/2 mile radius of the bridge requesting feedback.

It is SCDOT’s hope that the response to this notice will be overwhelming for the 35’ height and that the USCG will approve the 35’ based on that feedback, according to a memo sent to town officials.

Messages left for Fallaw by the Moultrie News were not returned as of deadline.

The latest in this bridge saga was unexpected by SCDOT, particularly since USCG has the authority to maintain its position of 50’.

According to Greg Shapley, director of the Coast Guard Bridge Program for the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean they don’t even have an application to replace the bridge.  He said the USCG is fully aware that there are plans in the works and they have  worked hand in hand with SCDOT and the various municipalities impacted by this, “but without a bridge permit application we have nothing to trigger any requirement for public noticing, public vetting and so forth,” he said. “Once we have one, and once we get to a certain point in our investigation of that application then it will be appropriate to go out with public notice, and explain what we have, where it is impacts on navigation are and solicit public comments.”

Mount Pleasant Town Councilman Paul Gawrych has been very vocal about rebuilding that bridge to a reasonable height in an effort to protect the Wando River and maintain the character of these pristine waters.

“The Coast Guard cannot have any inkling of an idea of what they’re looking at if they think 55’ is appropriate right there,” he said. “Just around the bend, this river goes right up into the National Forest. It’s the headwaters. They need to come up with one single reason why they want this bridge to be 55’ high.”

Gawrych said that after funding was taken away because an agreement could not be reached on the height, Mount Pleasant Town Council went to Berkeley County Council and reached a compromise of 35’. SCDOT agreed to that as well.

He said Fallaw did his due diligence, reported that the funding had been put back on the books and things could now move forward. Shapley said there is very good reason to consider a 55’ height if the participating governmental agencies don’t want to look at replacing the bridge with a swing bridge.

He said SCDOT’s own analysis of the waterway reveals that there are vessels on one side of the bridge that exceed 50 feet in mast height. “A moveable bridge has no vertical restrictions or constraints,” h said, but Shapley also made note of the expense involved in operating and maintaining a moveable bridge.

Because of this, town officials have been resistant to the idea of anther movable bridge. Shapley said if they did go that route, the USCG would establish curfews and reasonable restrictions on operating hours to minimize any impact.

He also added, that while his office is not local, he’s worked closely with Cpt. Michael McAlister, local Sector Coast Guard Capt. in Charleston when studying the waterway.

Tim Callanan, representative for the Berkeley County Council, District 2 said,  he was told by SCDOT that before the Coast Guard is going to make any determination as to what they view as an acceptable height for the bridge, they want to get public input.

Essentially, he said, public input is part of the process for approval.

“The Coast Guard didn’t want this to simply be decided without public input,”  Callanan said. “If the public is supportive of the 35’ height then at that point they may not be opposed to lowering it.”

He said he did not feel like this was a matter of two sides disagreeing or the Coast Guard trying to block anything. “They are doing the right thing in that this process goes through its normal course. Once the public is invited to speak and they don’t have opposition to it, we can move forward.”

Callanan added that he was told the Coast Guard did a survey of the types of vessels that would go up beyond the bridge and they determined that a height of 55’ would be supportive.

“At 35’ feet we’re not limiting recreation vessels. Once they look at that and hear from the folks who have homes above the Wando and properties around there they should look to lower it,” he said.

Gawrych said he plans to reach out to the Coastal Conservation League, rally support from the public in the area for a 35’ bridge.

“I can find no reason why this bridge needs to be 50’. The Westmoreland Bridge, above the Ashley River, is 35’ high. That should suffice for any activity that would be built above that bridge,” Gawrych said. “Unless the Coast Guard knows something I am not privy to, that’s what we all need to be working on. I want the Coast Guard to be very clear about what our residents want.”

Charleston County Councilman Dickie Schweers said, “as an elected official, I don’t see what the Coast Guard’s interest is in the taller bridge. There is no strategic transportation purpose for the Wando River. It basically dead ends into the  Francis Marion National Forest. It is not a navigable transportation corridor like the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) or other major rivers used for commercial transportation,” he said.

“I think they should absolutely be sensitive to the wishes of the community unless they give specific reasons we need to protect it (the Wando River) as a transportation corridor. A 35’ bridge will accommodate recreation traffic that needs to pass under that bridge.”

Schweers said the shipyard next to the  bridge is not an issue because it is located downstream.

In addition, he said, “development further up the Wando has been residential and there is no potential for any type industrial or commercial development. The only possibility would be a marina and I don’t think there is any real support for that. The height of that bridge is a community  decision and not a corporate or Coast Guard concern. Hopefully the Coast Guard will be sensitive to the local community.”

Gawrych said he will ask town staff to contact Fallaw to follow the proper protocol with any kind of notifications and public meetings so the community can have the opportunity to be heard.

Shapley said, “other than informal discussions,  we have not sat down at the application table yet. Everything that has been done is pre-application work. Until we have a tangible bridge application, it is impossible to say what we will or will not agree to. But on the face of it, a 35’ does not look like it will work.”

(Sully Witte can be reached at editor@moultrienews.com. See more stories online at www.moultrienews.com)

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1 comment(s) found!

Posted by: rgr75thlrrp On: 10/2/2008

Comment Title: New bridge
Don't make the new bridge higher, just replace the existing one at the same height. The only reason the higher one is being discussed is to satisfy those who have larger boats so they can access the Wando river. Save money!
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