Construction begins on third span across Beaufort River
Construction begins on third river span
Linda Jean Conner took this photograph of the sun rising early Saturday morning at the construction site of the new bridge crossing Beaufort River. Here’s a brief history of the bridges across our river.
Beaufort River was first crossed with a bridge span in the late 1920s when the original bridge was built at the foot of the downtown intersection of Bay and Carteret Streets over to Lady’s Island at the Whitehall ferry landing. That bridge was replaced in the late 1950s with a more modern one of the same rotating design called the Woods bridge in memory of a Beaufort native who was killed in the line of duty as a SC highway patrolman.
The next bridge over Beaufort River came in the late 1970s from Ribaut Road in Port Royal to Lady’s Island near Burckmyer Beach. It is named in honor of Ed McTeer, the famous “high sheriff of the Lowcountry” whose name was law in these parts from the time of Prohibition until his death decades later. The McTeer bridge is a high span not necessitating an opening to allow boats to pass on their journey on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway
Now, a third span is starting to be built across Beaufort River, this one paralleling the McTeer bridge in order to create a four-lane river crossing. Linda Conner’s photo captures the construction derricks in the early morning light with the sun just starting above the trees across the river on Lady’s Island in the distance.
Related posts:
- Highway lane closures start today in preparation for bridge construction
- Construction delays today and tomorrow over McTeer Bridge
- Traffic lanes closed crossing McTeer Bridge, traffic backups continue
- Naked bridge jumper’s body found in Broad River, motive for jumping unknown
- Lane closure on SC 802 Monday
