The repair of Botanical Parkway in West Columbia is underway.
It was one of the most-damaged roads in Lexington County by the floods of last October.
In the last week of July, a crew began construction to repair the road that leads to the Lexington side of Riverbanks Zoo via the Botanical Garden. Before that engineers prepared the site for repair. It will be a complete rebuild.
“It’s a 90-day contract,” to repair the road, said Joey Derby, Lexington County engineer. Botanical Parkway is a county road. Derby said the construction includes the installation of a culvert so that water from the stream called Double Branch can flow under the road.
Construction should be complete in October said Derby.
“With nothing unforeseen and no bad weather, it should be done in October,” he said.
Botanical Parkway is reputed to be the most-expensive October-flood road repair, with costs that could exceed $1 million. Last October, the S.C. National Guard cleaned the site of debris to aid water flow. The Guard also put rocks on the bank for stabilization. The county gets Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to help pay the cost to fix the road.
The road collapsed in 15 inches of rain, after a culvert under it gave way to raging water.
Jess Cruser, who lives 500 yards from the creek where the culvert was, said she heard a loud crashing noise on the morning of Oct. 4, a Sunday.
Derby, months ago, said the foundation failed under the culvert and the site will have to be completely re-engineered so it will be substantial enough to withstand another flood. The original culvert was put there by developers, not the county.
Botanical Parkway is off of Sunset Boulevard. Riverbanks Zoo and the Botanical Garden draw one million visitors a year.