Lanes closed on Ashley River Bridge due to crane malfunction

CHARLESTON — Most of the eastbound lanes on a major commuter bridge connecting West Ashley and downtown are closed due to a mechanical issue, police said.

In a post on X just after 8 a.m. , the Charleston Police Department confirmed the Ashley River Bridge is closed on the West Ashley side heading in the direction of downtown due to a “mechanical issue involving a crane.”

In a statement to The Post and Courier, city spokesperson Deja Knight McMillan said that MasTec Civil , the contractor for the Ashley River Crossing pedestrian bridge being built across the waterway, experienced a “mechanical failure on a large piece of equipment” stationed on the vehicular bridge.

The equipment, she said, has a large aerial boom lift that can’t be moved until the machine’s hydraulics can be lowered