SC highway officials estimate they filled more than 11,650 potholes in Lexington County last year.

That’s more than they filled in Greenville – the most populous county in the state.

They estimated they filled 25,080 in Richland County.

Small, rural Kershaw County got the most – 37,451.

We found more inflated pothole numbers in a review of a Department of Transportation database.

In its last annual report, DOT claimed it had filled about 411,000 potholes statewide.

Under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, we asked for records on how the agency arrived at 411,000.

In its answer, DOT indicated its 409,739 figure was not an actual count of every pothole. Rather, according to the agency, it was an estimate based on the amount of asphalt used – 97,313 tons – and the amount of asphalt – 475 pounds – needed to fill an “average” pothole measuring 3 feet long, 3 feet wide and 4.75 inches deep.

The total cost of patching potholes statewide last fiscal year was $20.6 million, DOT records show.

In passing a 2017 law that raised the state gas tax 12 cents a gallon over 6 years and increased other vehicle taxes and fees, legislators promised the revenues would go toward fix deteriorating roads and bridges.

We have repeatedly pointed out that DOT has spent relatively little from revenues generated under the law.

DOT, plans to use much the money to widen interstate under a proposal from Sen. Nikki Setzler of West Columbia.

According to the database, DOT repaired 1,041 Lexington County roads and 954 in Richland County.

Gerald Shealy, a former maintenance engineer in Richland and Lexington, counties, said he doesn’t believe that DOT is properly repairing potholes.

“There are a lot of things to patching a pothole that they don’t do,” he said. “I don’t think they know how to patch a pothole to be honest with you, not at least from what I’ve seen.”

Shealy said he wouldn’t be surprised if many of the same potholes are being repatched every month. In contrast, he said potholes that his crews worked on typically lasted months longer.

Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve, www.thenerve. org . Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org .