A hole found near a support structure under a Ravenel Bridge off-ramp leading into Mt. Pleasant is no cause for concern, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation.
“SCDOT engineers have been engaged with staff from the Town of Mount Pleasant for well over a month on this issue,” says a statement on the SCDOT Facebook page. “Indications are this void is connected to the construction at the park. Workers from the Town fill in this hole each time rain reopens it.”
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Mt. Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie said that the hole would be filled Tuesday in a Twitter post that afternoon.
[embed-2] The void is about three-and-a-half feet deep and five feet wide, according to SCDOT spokesperson Pete Poore.
The department pointed out that the bridge piers were dug 120 feet into the ground, and that no closures relating to the phenomenon are planned.
A concerned citizen posted photos the void on Facebook over the Memorial Day weekend, prompting Haynie to clap back Monday afternoon.
“A citizen made a FB post about the surface hole at the Ravenel Bridge questioning its structural integrity and using the hashtag “moreclosuresahead,” Haynie tweeted. The claims are baseless and the post has been shared over 4,000 times. There is a way to be helpful, but this is not it.”
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The citizen’s post has since been deleted.
Staff from SCDOT and the town of Mt. Pleasant will meet on-site later this week to review the issue.