SCDOT says failing box culvert cause of Old Chapin Rd closing

Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) – The SC Department of Transportation has said that a box culvert under the road bed of Old Chapin Road at 14-Mile Creek in Lexington is failing. That failure has warranted the closure of the road. They have said they expect the road to reopen on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Old Chapin Road Traffic will be detoured at Reed Avenue until further notice.

A box culvert is normally a concrete structure that allows larger quantities of water to pass under a road or some other area. Unlike a steel reinforced concrete, plastic, or corrugated aluminum pipe which is usually round or elliptical shaped, a box culvert is either square or rectangular. The have steel in them for reinforcement too and are made of poured concrete. Some are precast at a manufacturer and trucked in, and then installed, while some are formed on-site, and the concrete is poured in place. They are normally used where round culverts can’t handle the flow or using a round culvert large enough for the water flow would be too tall.

While Old Chapin Road is closed, detours have been set up. Only local traffic will be able to travel into the areas closest to the closed section.

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  Old Chapin Rd closed

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  Box Culvert

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  Old Chapin Detour