Friday I-26 crash causes ‘significant structural damage’ to overpass bridge, road closure

On Friday, an large oversized truck struck the Leaphart Road bridge overpass over I-26 in West Columbia prompting the state transportation officials to declare that the bridge had suffered “significant structural damage that poses a threat to motorists on the bridge as well as I-26.”

Leaphart Road was closed until further notice but the South Carolina Department of Transportation noted that a replacement bridge is already under construction and should be completed by the end of the year.

In announcing the road closure, and traffic detour on this heavily traveled road, SCDOT said the Friday crash was the fourth time the bridge had been struck by “an illegal, oversized load in 2017.” The bridge has sustained more than a dozen hits since 2015, SCDOT said.

Transportation officials have set up detours and said detour routes will be reexamined as needed, and traffic signals adjusted to handle the redirected flow.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Friday I-26 crash causes ‘significant structural damage’ to overpass bridge, road closure."