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VOLUME XXIV NO. II SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SPRING/SUMMER 2011 SCDOT crews respond after fiery crash shuts down I-85 By Bob Kudelka ladden Smoke knew it was bad when he could see the black column of Gsmoke rising from the interstate from his driveway eight miles from Gaffney. It was 2:39 a.m. on Sun- day, May 22, and Smoke, the fire chief of Grassy Pond Fire Department, was heading to his truck after getting the call of a fiery wreck on I-85, where two people had died when a tractor trailer crashed into the S.C. 150 bridge. Also arriving on the scene was Smoke’s assistant chief, Ste- phen Ellis. When they saw how severely the bridge had been hit, both men knew they were in for Gladden Smoke, right, and RME Stephen Ellis of Cherokee a long day. Maintenance are volunteer firefighters with the Grassy Pond fire While they have been volun- department. teering for the fire department for years, Ellis is also SCDOT’s Bridge Maintenance Engi- Half the pier was destroyed, Resident Maintenance Engineer neer Lee Floyd with the words, causing two adjacent spans to in Cherokee County and Smoke “We’ve got a bridge about to sag. is Assistant RME. collapse.” Neither span was salvage- Smoke began what would be Floyd, who had stayed up late able. Floyd, worried about fall- a 29½-hour shift of first putting that Saturday night after watch- ing debris, made the decision out the fire and then helping ing his son’s state champion- to have the two spans – or half coordinate a detour of I-85 traf- ship soccer game, described the the bridge - taken out before the fic. wreckage as “the worst bridge interstate could re-open. Ellis, after taking turns spray- collision accident I’ve seen in “I didn’t want to take a chance ing foam and battling the fire, my career here.” Floyd joined of anything falling on the inter- used his DOT phone to start call- the Department nearly 27 years state,” Floyd said. ing in employees. ago. Notification of the wreck “I always dreaded the day The tractor-trailer, a 2010 quickly went up the ranks, from something like this would hap- Freightliner with 200 gallons of Floyd to Director of Mainte- PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROB THOMPSON/THE CONNECTOR The S.C. 150 bridge over I-85 had to be dismantled after a tractor trailer pen,” said Ellis, who on his way diesel fuel and hauling news- nance Jim Feda to Deputy Secre- hit column supports on May 22 causing significant damage. In the out the door had grabbed his papers and magazines, had tary for Engineering John Walsh photo above, the column on the left was destroyed by the impact and DOT phone along with his fire- smashed directly into the north- to Secretary of Transportation the fire from the crash. fighting gear. bound shoulder pier. Robert J. St. Onge Jr. District 4 Bridge Inspector “The pier was hit dead-on,” Apprised of the situation, St. Team Leader Todd McNinch Floyd said. “You’ve got a 40-ton Onge issued an emergency order could re-open as soon as pos- See BRIDGE arrived on the scene and called truck going 70 mph; something’s to begin immediate clearing of sible. Columbia. He woke up State got to give.” the bridge debris so the interstate With the emergency order on page 4 Maintenance crews I-26 widening project Retirements, promotions Softball INSIDE THIS clear the roadways in Charleston .................. 6 and deaths ................12-13 Tournament .................... 19 ISSUE after storms ...................... 3 Hurricane Drill .................. 9 Signal Crews .............15-17 District Pages ...........23-30 2 SCDOT l THE CONNECTOR l SPRING/SUMMER 2011 Clifton Parker confirmed as At-Large SCDOT Commissioner Trucking Executive serves as Governor Haley’s appointee an unprecedented two terms. Presently he serves on the Executive Committee of the lifton Parker’s appointment by Gov- North Carolina. His father was a driver for American Trucking Association, and a mem- ernor Nikki R. Haley to the South Carolina Freight Carriers. After receiving his ber of the safety, environmental, technology Carolina Department of Transporta- B.A. degree from the University of North and intermodal policy committees. Ction (SCDOT) Commission was confirmed Carolina-Charlotte in 1977, he went to work Parker has been recognized by the South by the South Carolina State Senate on May for Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation, Carolina House for Outstanding Leader- 4, 2011. Commissioner Parker will attend his where he managed several terminals and was ship in the field of transportation and was first Commission meeting on May 19, 2011 promoted to Assistant to the Vice President. appointed recently to a Study Committee on at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting Shortly thereafter, he served as Vice President Public Private Partnerships in Transportation in Charleston. of Operations for Red Arrow Freight Lines. to make recommendations to the Governor Parker is President and General Manager During his tenure at G&P he has been for Highway funding. of G&P Trucking Company, Inc., a provid- active in the South Carolina Trucking Asso- Parker is a member of Mount Horeb er of International Transportation Services ciation where he served as Chairman for UMC in Lexington. He has served as Chair- located in Columbia, South Carolina. He has two years, and presently is Chairman of the man of the Trustees and is presently a mem- been in this position since 1986. TruckPac. He served as National Chairman ber of the Staff Parish Relations Committee. Clifton Parker Parker was born in 1955 in Cherryville, of the Truckload Carriers Association for He is married to Kim Hayes Parker. SCDOT At-Large Commissioner A letter we liked To SCDOT: Thankfully my daughter was driving, on the spare and told us there was a defect the card he provided that had his name on On May 21 we were traveling through for I simply wouldn’t have known how to in the tire...we were amazed. it. SC, I believe in the Columbia area on our react. She crossed 4 lanes of traffic and got My husband drove a semi and never He was wonderful and so is the SC- way from Kentucky to Myrtle Beach. the vehicle off the road. We were all terri- ever were we helped by the DOT in any DOT! Thank you so very much! We were driving a rental vehicle, a Yu- fied and started calling the rental company state, not even our own. This is a wonder- Anne Hunt kon LT, and the front driver’s side tire blew and our driver’s assistance plan through ful service you provide that I wish other (Email generated through in the fast lane. ATT when a “Knight in Shining Armour” states would adopt. Comments Page In this vehicle were me, my two grown arrived in the form of the SCDOT. I really wish I could remember the gen- on SCDOT daughters and my three grandchildren. He was so nice and went about putting tleman’s name that helped us, but I sent in website.) The South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission Daniel H. Isaac Jr. J. Craig Forrest Eddie Adams John P. Edwards Sarah B. Nuckles Harrison Rearden Clifton Parker 1st Congressional District 2nd Congressional 3rd Congressional 4th Congressional 5th Congressional 6th Congressional Commissioner At-Large District District District District District The Connector is an employee newspa- For inquiries regarding news copy, telephone per of the South Carolina Department of 737-1270. All materials submitted become the Transportation. All news items may be repro- property of SCDOT unless their return is stip- duced with credit to The Connector or the ulated. The Connector is Winner of awards from S.C. Division, Public Relations Society of America; source. News, photos and information to distributed free by mail to Carolinas Association of Business Communicators; S.C. Press Association appear in The Connector should be submitted employees and to others and AASHTO. to Stan Shealy, Office of Communications, upon request. S.C. Department of Transportation, P.O. Box Robert J. St. Onge Editor: Stan Shealy Photography / Layout Editor: Rob Thompson 191, Columbia, SC 29202, no less than Jr. is the South Carolina South Carolina Editorial Board: Pete Poore, Bob Kudelka, Jane Mayberry, Bonnie Cramer, Tasha three weeks prior to date of publication. Copy Secretary of Transportation. Press Association should include the name and phone number Associate Member Crumpton, Peter Tarpley, Zoe Cook and Cody Crouch. of the source or person submitting the article. SCDOT l THE CONNECTOR l SPRING/SUMMER 2011 3 Maintenance forces clean up after spring, summer storms By Pete Poore 24th, right-of-way crews contin- ued clearing material stacked up aintenance crews all on the less-traveled rural roads around the state have in the county. seemingly spent most The May 11 storm was just Mof 2011 clearing downed trees one event in Chester County. and other debris caused by an Jackson reported that his crews extremely active thunderstorm had been called out after hours and tornado season. Crews all 13 times between March 1 and around the state have cleared July 1. The story in Spartanburg over 18,000 fallen trees in 2011. County is similar. RME Fred In the short period of time Fleming reported that his crews between early June and early were called out after hours no July alone, Maintenance forces less than 16 days during the cleared over 5200 trees from period between the beginning of the highway system. “In my 28 April and the end of June. years of service with the Depart- The most severe storm of the ment, I cannot remember a year season struck the Upstate on June where the weather has kept us 15.

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