Failing bridge shuts down Chester County road indefinitely. Here’s where.

Part of a Chester County road is closed indefinitely after a bridge was found unfit for traffic.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation on Monday closed a portion of Mountain Gap Road in the Richburg area. Structural issues were found on the bridge over Rocky Creek, SCDOT said.

“A repair plan is being developed but an estimated date to reopen the bridge to traffic has not yet been determined,” SCDOT said in a statement.

The closed section of road runs through Richburg, almost parallel with Interstate 77. A detour begins at Mountain Gap and Great Falls Highway, west down S.C. 97 and onto I-77 at exit 65. It then follows Lancaster Highway back to Mountain Gap. The detour is more than 3 miles longer than using Mountain Gap, more than 13 miles total.

As part of its 10-year plan associated with the recent gas tax increase in South Carolina, SCDOT set a goal of replacing about half of the 750 structurally deficient bridges statewide. Seven Chester County bridges made that list. Included were four road crossings of Little Rocky Branch (one is complete, three should be by next year), two stretches of S.C. 72 set for completion by 2025 and the Mountain Gap bridge.