2 lanes on I-77 bridge over Catawba River to close again for repairs

Work on an Interstate 77 bridge in York County that began earlier this week, causing traffic problems during rush hour on Tuesday, will resume this weekend.

Two southbound lanes on the Catawba River bridge will be closed after rush hour ends Friday and could continue to be closed up until commuters head out to work Monday morning.

Two lanes on the right for southbound motorists, where serious potholes developed earlier this week, will be shut down at 9 p.m. Friday. The S.C. Department of Transportation hopes to reopen all lanes by noon Sunday if the weather permits. The two left lanes will remain open throughout the weekend.

DOT originally closed the lanes on Tuesday around rush hour to make emergency repairs after a large hole opened in the concrete. Temporary repair work continued most of the day Wednesday.

District maintenance engineer Todd Cook said work Tuesday and Wednesday was enough to make the inch-deep hole safe for drivers to travel over, but the department decided to wait until lanes were clearer to do permanent patching.

“We don’t want to be out there during rush hour unless we absolutely have to,” Cook said.

While work is slated to end Sunday, any delays could push work back to the beginning of morning rush hour Monday.

Drivers are asked to use caution in any DOT work area, and anyone traveling on I-77 may want to consider alternate routes.

Contractor workers will be on the scene this weekend to make more permanent repairs to the hole, working in 24-hour shifts during low traffic times. The department said in a news release it hopes to avoid “possible worsening conditions” during the holiday travel period.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "2 lanes on I-77 bridge over Catawba River to close again for repairs."