The Socastee Swing Bridge is an Horry County landmark. Here’s what to know about it.
The Horry County bridge involved in a June 12 wreck is one of the region’s most distinctive and oldest. Here’s what to know about the Socastee Swing Bridge.
1. It’s closing in on its 100th birthday
Built in 1935 as a link between Conway and Myrtle Beach over the Intracoastal Waterway, the bridge is able to pivot twice an hour when necessary to regulate both surface and aquatic traffic.
Part of the nationally recognized Socastee Historic District, the 217-foot long span is one five contributing resources that helped the area win a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in the early 2000s.
Once it was finished, the bridge marked completion of South Carolina’s portion of the Intracoastal Waterway, and a celebration marking the occasion was held in April 1936. Then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes was in attendance.
2. Swing bridges are a rare sight in South Carolina, and two of of them are in Horry County
In addition to the Socastee swing bridge, another connects Little River and North Myrtle Beach. That structure opened in 1935 and was restored several decades later.
Engineering firm HDR Inc. says on its website the bridge operates “on demand of the boat captains approaching it and clears only about 10 feet over the surface of the water at low tide, making it low enough to require frequent openings.
Consequently, this in-demand bridge must work at optimal efficiency to avoid delays.”
In 2004, the U.S. Coast Guard proposed a change to let the bridge operate on a signal-based system rather than as needed.
“A new high-level fixed bridge has recently been constructed in close proximity to the swing bridge and currently the majority of vehicular traffic utilizes this new bridge. This action would remove the regulations that provide for scheduled openings for the swing bridge and improve navigation for vessels transiting the area,” Coast Guard officials said in suggesting the switch.
3. Horry County has hundreds of bridges. Many are unsafe.
An updated structural report for the Socastee Swing Bridge was not immediately available, but it’s one of 72 countywide. According to a 2011 National Bridge Inventory data sheet, the structure was projected to see 19,712 daily trips by 2031.
Engineers at the time deemed the bridge “structurally deficient” and in need of nearly $2 million worth of repairs.
South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District that includes Horry County counts 1,571 bridges of various sizes and types — with more than 204,000 daily crossings.
A 2022 Federal Highway Administration survey found that 43 of the district’s bridges were classified as structurally deficient, down from 76 in 2018.
It would cost nearly $392 million to repair all 282 7th Congressional District bridges in need of work to make them structurally sound, the agency said.
