Arborist and SCDOT engineers team to save trees
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Last month, representatives from SCDOT and design engineering firm Mead and Hunt met with concerned citizen and arborist Ben Williamson to discuss the upcoming US-52 (North Main Street) bridge replacement project and the effect it will have on nearby trees. Those discussions bore fruit and, thanks to a few design tweaks, most of the endangered trees will be spared.
Williamson had expressed concern that the expanded right-of-ways necessary to construct the new bridge to modern standards would require the removal of seven live oak trees, which would negatively impact the visual appearance of the North Main Street entrance into Darlington. The trees are located between the bridge and the Darlington Library, on property owned by the Darlington County School District.
Project manager Tony Steffee with Mead and Hunt explained that the new design will save space near the trees by eliminating a grass buffer between the sidewalk curb and the road.
“I think we’ll be able to save all the trees but one along the south side of the road,” said Steffee, adding that the one tree they can’t save could be replaced after construction (slightly further back from the road) if the City of Darlington or DCSD wishes.
On the opposite side of the road, at the intersection of North Main Street and North Street, designers reconfigured the radii of the curb and sidewalk to save the dogwood trees near the Darlington Library. In the case of one particularly large tree, Williamson said that during construction it may be necessary to install a steel plate underground to protect the tree roots and prevent them from troubling the road and sidewalk in the future.
SCDOT representatives and Mead and Hunt engineers have also met with Darlington city manager Howard Garland on this issue. Garland said all parties agreed that when the bridge project is bid out, the contractor will consult with the city’s arborist regarding the preservation of these trees.
Steffee said that the US-52 bridge replacement project is slated to begin construction early 2019 and could be completed by early 2020. During construction, traffic will be restricted to one lane, but the road will remain passable.