Anne Springs Close Greenway details new $1 million plan to replace two bridges

Construction should start this fall to replace two bridges at the Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill. Both should open next spring, the greenway announced Tuesday morning.

In addition to the former road bridge that collapsed in January, the greenway will replace the popular swinging bridge across Steele Creek. It’s about a mile upstream of the Field Trial Barn. Some trails will be rerouted to connect two larger, taller bridges into the greenway system.

Replacing both bridges will cost about $1 million.

“Our goal is to build something that will protect our trail system for the next 50 years,” greenway parent company Leroy Springs & Co. CEO John Gordon said in a new video .

Demolition is complete at the former road bridge between the Tunnel and Mill Pond trails that collapsed due to heavy rain. No one was using the bridge at the time.

That bridge was older than the greenway itself, built in the 1960s as part a highway into Fort Mill. When Springfield Parkway was built more than 20 years ago, the bridge was abandoned to traffic but remained on greenway property for pedestrian use.

It became a popular option for mountain biking, hiking, running and dog walking, Gordon said.

“Nobody wanted the bridge to collapse, but now it’s given us an opportunity to really look at the long-term sustainability of our trails,” he said.

About the new greenway bridges

Less than a mile from the collapsed bridge, the swinging bridge over Steele Creek is one of the original bridges on the more than 2,000-acre greenway property.

It’s 30 years old and the organization has gotten a lot of life out of it, Gordon said. It’s a popular hiking destination, where it’s common to see children passing back and forth several times as the creek flows below them.

The greenway doesn’t have the $1 million now but has an endowment and donors that Gordon believes will support the project.

One central bridge would’ve cost less, he said, but the current plan protects more of the natural space between them.

The new bridges will have boardwalks and 100-foot spans. They’ll be higher to stay out of the floodplain.

With so much development in Fort Mill and other areas upstream, flash flooding at the creek has become more common in recent years, Gordon said. The new, taller designs should help prevent something like what happened with the road bridge.

“These aren’t the bridges that we’ve normally built here,” Gordon said. “These are two main thoroughfares.”

The two new bridges will connect the Adventure Road and Blue Star entrances. They’ll be 10 feet wide each.

About Anne Springs Close Greenway

The Anne Springs Close Greenway is a nonprofit nature preserve in Fort Mill that offers hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, camping and other outdoor opportunities.

There’s a dog park and an animal farm. It has a 40-mile trail network. The Greenway has almost 18,000 member households. Non-members can visit for a daily pass fee.