NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – The Barefoot Swing Bridge is the talk of the town, as North Myrtle Beach Public Works and an outside contractor work to figure out why the bridge is not operating as usual.
“We’re not exactly sure what is broken, we have a contractor out there taking look at the situation right now,” said Donald Graham, the spokesperson for North Myrtle Beach.
The issue was first reported over the weekend and since then workers have had to manually turn the bridge so boats can pass.
“What they have to do, they have to send up a crew of 9 people with what looks like a giant skeleton key, they put that skeleton key right in the center of the bridge,” said Graham.
He adds the process takes a while, so traffic will be impacted daily at 10 a.m and 2 p.m.
Paul Reed, who is visiting from England, isn’t worried about the delays because he and his friends are on vacation.
“If work has got to be done, it’s got to be done,” he said.
“I’m a master electrician by trade and my background is in electrical maintenance so I understand that it deserves attention,” said Tyrese Ramare, a North Myrtle Beach resident who was using the bridge for the first time.
Public works and the contractor are working hard to resolve the issue. In the meantime, it is suggested that drivers use an alternate route at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The last time the bridge had a recorded issue was in 2001 when there was an electrical problem. It was fixed in just one day.
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