The state Department of Transportation has increased the scope and made a slight shift to the timing of an upcoming bridge rehabilitation project that touches Lexington County.

The department announced in December that it would resurface 14 bridges along Interstate 77 from mile marker 0 to mile marker 5, a stretch that goes from the highway’s interchange with Interstate 26 across the Congaree River and into Lexington County.

The project is now set to tackle 17 bridges, hitting all interstate bridges between the I-26 interchange and Bluff Road.

The work, initially set to begin March 10, is now scheduled, weather permitting, to start March 24, and will be conducted under essentially the same road closure plan that was previously announced.

“To minimize traffic disruption, work will be completed under two separate close and detour operations,” DOT states in a release, noting that the northbound closure will begin March 24 and last through April 2, with the southbound closure set to follow in late April.

“Nine northbound bridge decks and eight southbound bridge decks will be rehabilitated. Having assessed the condition of all 17 bridge decks, SCDOT will rehabilitate each bridge deck as needed. Construction activities include the removal of old concrete, pouring new concrete spans, and grinding new concrete to create a smooth driving surface.”

At a press briefing in December, Tony Magwood, DOT’s resident maintenance engineer for Richland County, said part of the reason the department is pushing to do the work now — and do it quickly with the dual closures and working on all bridges in each direction simultaneously — is the large amount of commercial traffic hitting the stretch of I-77 from Bluff Road and the Saxe Gotha Industrial Park, which includes Nephron Pharmaceuticals and the Amazon Fulfillment Center in West Columbia.

“Over the past five years, we have done significant maintenance along those bridges, both in Richland and Lexington counties, and we continue to perform maintenance,” he said. “However, we've seen that just those small fixes are not going to get the job done. That's why a larger fix was put into place.”