Driving the Woods Memorial Bridge on Wednesday night? Here’s news you can use

The Woods Memorial Bridge will be down to one lane overnight Wednesday as crews perform scheduled maintenance and repair damage from an early Tuesday morning, single-car crash that left the driver hospitalized.

The work will take place between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 5:30 a.m. Thursday, City of Beaufort Project Manager Neal Pugliese said Tuesday. He urged motorists to avoid the bridge during those hours since the bridge could be shutdown completely if extensive repairs are necessary.

The bridge closed at 2 p.m. Tuesday for repairs related to the crash and opened back up around 2:20 p.m., according to Beaufort Police Department news releases. Those repairs provided a temporary solution to the damage caused by the crash that damaged a section of guard rail and part of a concrete wall, South Carolina Department of Transportation District Bridge Engineer Kevin Turner said Tuesday. DOT is deciding whether a full repair can be incorporated into the scheduled maintenance. If the repair has to be made at a later time, the work will be done at night, he said.

The bridge crash involved a pickup truck that overturned on the bridge around 1 a.m. Tuesday, taking out a portion of guard rail and resulting in “significant injuries” to the driver, according to a Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department news release. The truck was found with “heavy damage on the up-slope” of the bridge. Firefighters had to use the “Jaws of Life” device to free the victim.

The driver was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital by Beaufort County EMS, Beaufort Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Hope Able said Tuesday afternoon.

No update was available on the man’s condition Tuesday afternoon, Able said.

This story was originally published April 19, 2017 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Driving the Woods Memorial Bridge on Wednesday night? Here’s news you can use."