COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Transportation says the closure of a section of Air Base Road in Hopkins will continue, saying excessive rainfall from this week's storms caused a "culvert failure."
A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow under or around the road, and failure can cause excessive flooding. according to Infrasteel.
Several residents say they've been drawing attention to issues with the road for years, after noticing tall grass and excessive water along the side of the road. Robin Smith has been in correspondence with the SCDOT on the road since April.
"What do I do? If I don’t take Air base then I have to take Garners Ferry, then I have to go around?" said Smith. "But then depending on what part of Congaree I have to get to, then what if I can’t get to my house where I need to get to? The ditches aren’t clean there either.”
The SCDOT has set up a detour at the closure right now, but many residents say they don't need it. Several that spoke to News 19 yesterday said that the issues on the road are so frequent that they know a way around from having to go around it so often.
Charles McCall, who lives nearby, says that he's used to seeing lots of traffic near his house a few minutes from Air Base Road because people are using his street to make detours.
"It’s a lot more traffic you know and it could be the other way. It’s a lot more traffic and we got youngins and grand youngins around here," said McCall, who was not surprised to hear of the closure. "It ain’t draining, you can go by there and see it. It’s now draining down there."
In a statement to News 19, the SCDOT said that there is no timeline right now for when the road might be reopened. A spokesperson said, "We will have to wait for the weather to improve before we can assess the damage."