Rating:
1 vote

John P. Grace Memorial Bridge

Charleston County, South Carolina
Share:

Photos 

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

Map 

Timeline 

Written by Nick Brnot

August 8,1928- Grace bridge built at a cost of $6 million

1946-50 cent toll removed
-240 feet of bridge rammed down by freighter

1959- Bridge widened

1966- Companion bridge, the Silas S Pearman Bridge, is built parallel to the Grace span

1979-New lane added to Charleston approach
- Declared obsolete

2001- Construction of the Arthur J Rvenal bridge begans

July 16, 2005- Old bridges close, new bridge opens
- Demolition of Grace and Pearman spans begins

2007- Demolition of old bridges completed

Facts 

Overview
Lost cantilevered truss bridge over the Cooper River on US 17
Location
Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina
Status
Replaced by Arthur J Ravenel Bridge in 2005
History
Grace bridge built in 1928
Builder
- Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. of Roanoke, Virginia
Design
Cantilevered Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 900.6 ft.
Total length: 10,218.0 ft. (1.9 mi.)
Deck width: 20.0 ft.
Also called
Old Cooper River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+32.80358, -79.91735   (decimal degrees)
32°48'13" N, 79°55'02" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/601362/3630030 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Charleston
Inventory numbers
SC 0102001730900 (South Carolina bridge number)
BH 37631 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 02/2000)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 4.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1997)
31,550

Categories 

Built 1928 (805)
Built during 1920s (7,031)
Cantilevered (241)
Cantilevered truss (221)
Charleston County, South Carolina (15)
Charleston, South Carolina (9)
Formerly NR-eligible (264)
Lost (10,351)
Lost 2007 (196)
Lost during 2000s (3,090)
Over a mile long (192)
Owned by state (9,803)
 Replaced by new bridge (7,130)
South Carolina (208)
Span length 500-1000 feet (313)
Structurally deficient (16,674)
Through truss (9,200)
Total length over 2500 feet (587)
Truss (23,559)
US 17 (14)
Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. (73)
Warren through truss (924)
Warren truss (3,955)

Update Log 

  • November 28, 2010: Updated by Nick Brnot: Edited status description, added city
  • May 25, 2010: Essay added by Nick Brnot
  • October 15, 2008: Added by Kim Harvey

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Kim Harvey
  • HAER SC-32 - Grace Memorial Bridge, U.S. Highway 17 spanning Cooper River & Town Creek, Charleston, Charleston County, SC
  • kcin556
  • Wikipedia
Post a comment here
Contact webmaster

Comments 

John P. Grace Memorial Bridge
Posted May 9, 2012, by Robert L. Stephens (tylerhotel [at] hotmail [dot] com)

I made only one round-trip across these bridges, in 1977. They were beautiful in their construction, but scary to cross. The road was very narrow, with the feeling of being enclosed in a massive steel cage. The worse thing was how peaked they were, causing one to lose sight of the road ahead as the top was approached. One drove over the peak without being able to tell what was ahead. There could have been a stalled car or accident and it could not be seen until starting down again.

John P. Grace Memorial Bridge
Posted February 14, 2012, by Adrienne Boland (adrienneboland [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Ah yes, the lovely Grace Bridge. My uncle would crawl as far in to the floorboard of the car as he could every time we crossed this one! One of my all time favorites.

Grace Memorial Bridge
Posted November 17, 2009, by Matthew Lohry (mmlohry [at] comcast [dot] net)

When I was in the service in the mid 1990's, I had what turned out to be the once-in-a-lifetime chance to cross these beautiful and historic bridges. The older of the two was a lot of fun to drive across because of its narrowness and the massive amount of metal that surrounded me as I made my way across. It was a sad day for me to see these structures go down to make way for a single cable-stayed bridge (which I have no desire to see or cross), as these "wire slabs" are becoming the demise of our historic cantilever bridges nationwide. Sigh.