You Paid For It: Repairs made to King Street after brick archway collapses

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Stormwater workers had to make some quick emergency repairs on King Street after noticing bricks under the road were collapsing.

The area, near 19 King Street, is all residential and one-way, so if the workers had not figured out the problem it likely would have been a much bigger headache and a much bigger cost to taxpayers.

The city invoice states that workers inspecting the drainage system and discovered a much bigger problem.

Stormwater Management Director Matt Fountain provided a picture of a brick archway under the road that severely damaged and collapsing.

Fountain said the brick masonry arches were built in the mid 1800′s.

“When we were doing a brick arch repair project on Weims Court we were cleaning and verifying that the repaired section was hydraulically connected to an outfall we discovered a dangerous level of failure of the brick arch King Street system slightly to the south,” Fountain said. “We decided an emergency repair was necessary to protect public health and prevent a road failure.”

The cost was $59,750. The fix was approved as an emergency procurement back in October.

Contractor Palmetto Gunite was doing the on-site work at the Weims Ct project, so Fountain said the City used them for the emergency repair, too. Fountain said they are the only company they’ve identified with this expertise and ability to respond quickly in this case.

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