City of Charleston Brick Arch Repairs and Relining

December 6, 2022

The stormwater for historic downtown Charleston feeds into an elaborate grid of brick arches that are believed to have been construction in the mid to late 1800’s. The floors of these arches are made of pine timbers that were designed to always be below low tide in order to prevent rotting. Unfortunately, the brick arches have sustained damage over the years from tree roots, constant traffic, other pipe and conduit intrusions, as well as being silted in with dirt and debris. These forces have combined to cause serious flooding issues in the areas where they are present, as well as locations that have either collapsed in the past or are in danger of collapsing. The City of Charleston has recently worked to get ahead of flooding and safety issues by lining primary arch lines with shotcrete in order to ensure and extend the durability and flow of the stormwater in the arches. Although we have repaired many collapsed arch locations over the past 25+ years, since 2020, Palmetto Gunite has successfully lined over 4,000 feet of brick arch in a continuous line beginning at Limehouse Street and Gibbes Street to Coming Street and Calhoun Street via Tradd Street and all of Logan Street.