Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer began his statewide “TDOT Projects Tour” Tuesday and the first stop was in DeKalb County.
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer and Chief Engineer Paul Degges from dwayne page on Vimeo.
Several local and state officials joined the Commissioner and other TDOT representatives on the bus tour locally to view Hurricane bridge, where a rehabilitation construction project is now underway, and to Sligo bridge, where a replacement construction contract is expected to be awarded later this year as part of TDOT’s “Three Year Program”.
TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges at Hurricane Bridge from dwayne page on Vimeo.
Among those on the DeKalb County bus tour with Commissioner Schroer were State Senator Mae Beavers, State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver, County Mayor Mike Foster, Smithville Mayor Taft Hendrixson, and other interested local persons.
During the bus ride and at the bridge locations, TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges and other transportation officials discussed the specifics of both local projects.
The Sligo project, which has been funded in the 2011-12 state budget, calls for replacement of the existing overhead truss bridge which is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. The new bridge will be located a few feet to the north of the existing bridge, which will remain open to traffic during construction. The new bridge will be a continuous welded plate girder design with a composite concrete deck slab and will be 1,545 feet in length. The project typical section is two-12 foot lanes with 10 foot shoulders. The total project length including bridge and approaches is approximately 0.8 mile. The total estimated cost of the project including engineering, right of way, and construction is $31-million.
Roadway and bridge plans are being finalized. Discussion is being held with the US Army Corps of Engineers concerning Right of Way easements and the permit application is nearing completion. The project is scheduled to go to construction in late 2011.
TDOT Officials said work on the Hurricane bridge consists of a certain amount of strengthening to the steel truss members and some additional stringers which actually support the concrete deck. The existing rails and deck will eventually be removed from the bridge and replaced with a lite weight concrete deck. The bridge will also be repainted .
In October, 2010 TDOT awarded the bid to OCCI Incorporated at $26.9 million. The contractor has until October 31st, 2013 to complete the project.
TDOT’s Region Two Bus Tour is the first of four events that will be held this summer in East, Middle, and West Tennessee. This portion of the Region Two Tour will wind up in Cannon County on Friday, July 1
For more information on the “TDOT Projects Tour”, please visit www.tn.gov/tdot/tour/
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