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TMCNet: State opens bids on new Fort Loudoun Dam bridge

[June 22, 2012]

State opens bids on new Fort Loudoun Dam bridge

Jun 22, 2012 (The Knoxville News-Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Construction could get under way next month to build a new, four-lane bridge at the Fort Loudoun Dam and widen a part of U.S. Highway 321 leading to the new structure.

State officials on June 15 opened two bids for the project that has a May 31, 2015, completion date. A bid of $69,361,720.70 was submitted by Charles Blalock and Sons, Inc, of Sevierville. C.J. Mahan Construction Company, LLC, of Grove City, Ohio, submitted a bid of $77,432,500.54.

"TDOT will be making a decision about awarding the project within the 30 days following the letting," TDOT regional spokesman Mark Nagi said.

"A general assumption is that construction work will start about six weeks after the letting (June 15, 2012)." Despite requests from public officials, TDOT has not included the intersection of U.S. Highway 321 and U.S. Highway 11 in the project. Nagi said the portion of U.S. Highway 321 east of the intersection will be widened to two lanes in each direction, with a left- and a right-turn lane, but the intersection will not be reconfigured.

The project includes three bridges.

A four-lane bridge will be built over Norfolk Southern railroad tracks along the newly widened U.S. Highway 321. A 1,400-foot-long bridge over the Tennessee River system will be constructed about 2,000 feet downstream from the dam. And a two-lane bridge 1,069-foot long will be raised over the Tellico canal, alongside the existing two-lane bridge.

The two bridges over the Tellico canal will be side by side and each will carry traffic in one direction.

The entire length of the project from U.S. Highway 11 to the new bridge over the Tellico canal is 1.71 miles long. The portion of U.S. Highway 321 to be widened and diverted is 1.181 miles long, according to TDOT plans.

TDOT estimates show an average of 21,200 vehicles a day travel over the Fort Loudoun Dam bridge, which officially carries the name of the J. Carmichael Greer Bridge.

Nagi said he was unsure if the new bridge to replace the one over the dam will take its predecessor's name. The TDOT contract includes removing the old bridge over the dam.

The project includes relocating water, sewer, gas electric, phone and cable lines in the construction area.

Despite the massive project, Nagi said the motoring public probably won't see daily interruptions. Most of the work involves creating a new road and new bridges over Tennessee Valley Authority property.

"There will not be lane closures during the project," Nagi said. "Except for the first half mile, construction will be on a new location, not along the present roadway." At worst, Nagi said, drivers may experience "short disruptions when traffic is shifted to the new roadway or when other work is being performed adjacent to traffic lanes." The new path of U.S. Highway 321 will diverge from the current route at the sharp, northward curve near the intersection with Elm Hill Road. The new route will have an intersection with Elm Hill Road on one side and City Park Drive on the other.

"A new connector to the TVA facilities will come off of the new relocated City Park Drive close to that intersection," Nagi said.

The J. Carmichael Greer Bridge first opened to traffic in 1963.

___ (c)2012 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at www.knoxnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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