Cooper River Bridge Replacement, SC, USA
The construction of the Cooper River Bridge was a design/build project to replace two old bridges in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and Charleston The new bridge, which opened in July 2005 connects two major municipal areas and offers eight lanes for traffic plus a pedestrian/bike lane. The bridge measures 2.5 miles in length and has increased vertical and horizontal navigational clearance over its predecessors to reduce hindrance to river traffic (road deck is 200ft above the average high tide mark).
The Port of Charleston, the second largest container cargo port on the East Coast, has significant economical impact through the large number of jobs, income and tax revenue it produces. This project has enhanced national and international shipping accessibility to the Port.
The Cooper River Bridge cost approximately $632m. It was funded partly through an approved direct Federal TIFIA loan of up to $215m. The loan repayment source is a subordinate pledge of SCTIB revenues. These primarily consist of existing truck registration fees and loan repayments to the SCTIB.
