Openings Questioned at Socastee Swing Bridge, AICW Statute Mile 371
Skipper Lattimer poses questions that have asked many, many times over the years. See /?p=89755 and /?p=143206 for comments from other boaters. As to precedents for openings, emergency vehicles and vessels get priority. On weekends, it is normally water traffic that is heavy and the On Demand must restricted to openings every 15 minutes. During weekday rush hours, the opposite is true. And, as I understand from conversations with the bridge tenders, the old swing bridge roadway still serves a nearby school zone, requiring that waterway traffic be restricted for school buses. It is a tough job for the tenders who must rely on their on-the-spot judgement to apply restrictions.
Re: Socastee swing bridg . What do you mean `Opens on Demand’ Demand from who? Also, how many boats are considered heavy vessel traffic? It’s not unusual to have a hundred, probably a lot more, cars and trucks tied up when the bridge is open to `some’ boats. Which should take precedence?
Ed Lattimer
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Directory Listing For Socastee Bridge
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Socastee Bridge
Comments from Cruisers (1)
What should take precedence, Ed, is the USCG-approved status of the bridge. The Socastee Bridge is NOT restricted, so by definition, it is “on request”/”on demand.” The “requestor”/”demander” is the pilot of the boat. Having transited the ICW on many fall/spring migrations, I have experienced all of the ICW bridges. At Socastee, I have had excellent service and terrible, disrespectful service. The bridge is unreliable, at best. The bridge operations staff is made up of people who believe in serving the needs of boaters and people who do not. The argument of emergency vehicle traffic or school bus traffic applies to every bridge everywhere. There is absolutely nothing unique to Socastee. The bridge – and the city that owns the bridge – should honor it’s commitments to waterway users. Honor them or change them, but none of this, “it’ll be about 15 minutes or so before I can open” nonsensical stuff.