The heat is already affecting a bridge in one grand strand city. City staff with North Myrtle Beach say they will have to close the Barefoot Swing Bridge for about 30 minutes overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.
The heat is causing the metal to expand too far into the part that hits the concrete.
"It's 101 degrees on the bridge surface and because of that the metal plate has swelled to the point where we just need to cut some off of it," Pat Dowling, Public Information Officer for North Myrtle Beach says.
The bridge should be closed from 4:00 a.m. to 4:30a.m. Wednesday morning. Boaters will still be able to pass through. Drivers will have to take an alternate route. Dowling says the work is being done at that time because that's when they expect the fewest drivers on the bridge.
