Buster Boyd Bridge
| Buster Boyd Bridge | |
|---|---|
Photo taken from shore of Lake Wylie, SC looking south towards Steele Creek, NC. Steam release from Catawba Nuclear Power Station seen in background.
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| Coordinates | 35°06′02″N 81°02′24″W / 35.10060°N 81.03997°WCoordinates: 35°06′02″N 81°02′24″W / 35.10060°N 81.03997°W |
| Carries |
 SC 49 (Charlotte Hwy) NC 49 (York Road) |
| Crosses | Catawba River/Lake Wylie |
| Locale | York County, SC and Mecklenburg County, NC |
| Named for | William Boyd |
| Maintained by | NCDOT and SCDOT |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Segmented girder |
| Material | Prestressed concrete |
| Total length | 1,417.1 feet (431.9 m) |
| Width | 67.6 feet (20.6 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | June 16, 2001 (third structure) |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 27,000 (as of 2010) |
| References | |
The Buster Boyd Bridge is a four-lane automobile bridge spanning the Catawba River/Lake Wylie between Lake Wylie, York County, South Carolina and Steele Creek, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The bridge carries/connects SC 49 and NC 49, which is utilized by mostly local traffic. A sidewalk, along the east facing side of the bridge, provides pedestrian access.
William Monroe "Buster" Boyd, was an influential Mecklenburg County politician from Steele Creek. Boyd lobbied Mecklenburg County Commissioners for a hard-surfaced road to be built from Charlotte to what was then known as Lake Catawba. After the road was built, Boyd fought heavily for the construction of a bridge that would span Lake Catawba, connecting Mecklenburg County with York County on the South Carolina side. During its construction the bridge was referred to as York-Mecklenburg Bridge but upon completion was named in honor of Boyd, who donated the access land on the North Carolina side.
The original Buster Boyd Bridge was built at a cost of $120,000, with Mecklenburg County paying two-thirds of the cost and York County, South Carolina paying the remaining one-third. Mecklenburg County raised their portion of the funds by selling $75,000 in bonds The bridge spanned 1,378 feet across in 10 spans. It officially opened to automobile traffic on January 9, 1923. The bridge featured an excessively high lake clearance due to known plans by Catawba Power Company to build a larger dam, which would make Lake Catawba much larger and deeper in the following year.
A great celebration of the new Buster Boyd Bridge was held on August 17, 1923. Both North Carolina Governor Cameron A. Morrison and South Carolina Governor Thomas Gordon McLeod were among the estimated crowd of 12,000 attending the event. Ceremonies commenced with several acrobatic biplanes flying aerial maneuvers beneath the center span of the bridge.
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Wikipedia