October 5, 2015 – The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is continuing to monitor and make emergency repairs to roads and bridges in the state as a result of the historic, record-breaking levels of rain and flooding that began on Saturday and are expected to continue into early this week.

The agency’s primary mission is focused on public safety and restoring mobility. SCDOT crews are working to keep roads and bridges that are in good condition open by clearing tree limbs and other debris. However, part of the “response” mission is to close infrastructure that may not be safe for travel. SCDOT will close any bridge or road that may be questionable. SCDOT has over 1,000 Maintenance employees working in shifts around the clock involved in the immediate “response” work.  

At first light today, SCDOT engineers and inspectors began assessing the damage that has occurred to hundreds of roads and dozens of bridges across South Carolina. SCDOT staff will assess the overall damage and prioritize the repair work that is expected to take several months to complete.  Priority routes for returning to service are Interstates, Primaries, and then the Secondaries.

Until the heavy rains pass through South Carolina, SCDOT Acting Secretary Christy A. Hall urges everyone to stay off the roads. “There are still life-threatening situations in some areas of the state. We ask all South Carolinians to stay safe and allow our employees the space needed to do their jobs,” said Hall.  

Storm information, including road and bridge closures is available on the SCDOT website: www.scdot.org.