By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published April 1, 2009

Tucked into the budget bill President Barack Obama signed earlier this month was an earmark for $60 million to construct a third structural diamond on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Against congressional policy, a lawmaker’s name was not attached to the earmark. Calls made late Tuesday and early this morning to the offices of South Carolina’s two senators and six representatives either were not returned or questions couldn’t be answered by aides. So far, no one has claimed credit for the project, which could bring a significant number of construction and engineering jobs to Mount Pleasant or Charleston.

The earmark was discovered when the U.S. Center for Tax Policy, a conservative think tank, faxed an official congressional memorandum to the Charleston Regional Business Journal regarding the money late Tuesday. The tax policy center called the project “an example of wasteful government spending that will dig us deeper into a recession.”

“First the bridge to nowhere and now this. It’s wasteful government spending like this that makes people wonder why they pay their taxes at all,” said Michael Moder, the center’s executive director. 

The memorandum noted that the project was aimed at helping Charleston hang onto its coveted claim to North America’s longest cable stay bridge. A new bridge currently under construction in Louisiana is expected to surpass the Cooper River bridge’s cable span by 37 feet.

Construction of the third tower would close the bridge for about eight weeks and employ 50 people. Traffic between Mount Pleasant and Charleston would temporarily be routed through North Charleston via Interstate 526, the memorandum said.

A North Charleston City Councilman, who asked that his name not be used, said it was typical Lowcountry politics to send economic stimulus money and jobs to Charleston and send the resulting traffic to North Charleston.

“It seems like we just can’t win in North Charleston,” the councilman said. “When do we get our third diamond tower? I mean if it’s just about spending money, put a bridge tower over Interstate 26 near Ashely Phosphate. Then at least, commuters sitting in traffic will have something to look at in the morning.”

The third tower would be purely cosmetic in nature. Engineers would build a façade that would not affect the structural integrity of the bridge, but would maintain the appearance of a third tower and still qualify for lengthening the bridge’s cable span, the memorandum said.

The memorandum also suggested that the naming rights to new tower should be auctioned off to the highest bidder through an online service such as eBay. The original towers are named Grace and Pearman after the two old bridges that were blown apart after the new bridge was opened.

This story would be updated throughout the day as it develops if it were not entirely false. Thanks for taking part in this April Fool’s Day joke! With all the bad news out there, we figured you could use a laugh.  If you would like to see another “rendering” of the third tower, click here.

Sincerely,
The Business Journal staff