MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Drivers leaving the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge on Thursday afternoon sat in long delays after a tractor-trailer loaded with pumpkins clipped a low tree limb and tore open on the exit ramp toward Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant.
The 18-wheeler struck the limb as it came off the bridge around 2 p.m., said Brad Franko, who speaks for the Mount Pleasant Police Department. That impact peeled back the trailer and left the fall gourds scattered across the pavement.
The wreck shut the two right lanes of Coleman Boulevard while crews worked the scene. When a tow truck showed up about 4:45 p.m., traffic coming off the bridge stopped almost completely for close to 30 minutes, and officers sent some drivers on a detour farther up the road.
Police said the pumpkins were picked up by about 5:40 p.m. A crane then helped lift the damaged rig, which was hauled away around 7:48 p.m., and the ramp opened again a few minutes later.
The load had been grown on a farm in New Mexico and was bound for the pumpkin patch at Hibben United Methodist Church, which sells the pumpkins and gives the money to nonprofit groups in the area and around the state. The church said it was thankful nobody was injured.
The cable-stayed Ravenel Bridge carries U.S. 17 across the Cooper River between downtown and Mount Pleasant on eight lanes and has been open since 2005.
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