After pushing back the completion date for construction
of the new four-lane bridge that will eventually replace
the J. Carmichael Greer Bridge atop Fort Loudoun Dam,
state officials believe the project will still be
finished by early 2017.
Earlier this year, the Tennessee Department of
Transportation delayed the bridge until January 2017. A
previous estimate listed a June 2016 completion date.
State Rep. Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir City, said he planned
to speak with TDOT Commissioner John Schroer this week
in Nashville to gain a better understanding of where the
bridge project stands.
“I think to use his (Schroer’s) words, we’re
cautiously optimistic,” Matlock said. “... We’re
still hopeful that January ‘17 timeline will be
met.”
Mark Nagi, spokesman for TDOT, said bridge work,
which started with the first seal footing in May
2014, is about 40-50 percent complete.
“Piers 2 and 3 are completed,” Nagi said in an email
correspondence. “Pier 1 is at 40 percent. Abutment
beams at each end of the bridge are complete. Beam
erection should start at span No. 4 in the next
couple of months.”
In a previous interview, Nagi said the $70 million
project is estimated to be finished by Jan. 3, 2017.
“As with most any construction project of this kind,
inclement weather will slow production,” Nagi said
in an email correspondence of possible future delays
as cold weather moves in.
The project includes the construction of three
bridges, including one across the railroad, one
across the river and one that will be parallel the
current structure across the canal.
“I think it’s a great thing,” Rollen “Buddy”
Bradshaw, Loudon County mayor, said of the bridge’s
construction and what it will mean to the county.
“If you look at (U.S. Highway) 321, (the road) has
become such a main artery for Loudon County. Of
course, that area of the county is just — going
across there is beautiful, and so I think that’s
going to be a great thing.”
Lenoir City Assistant Administrator Amber Scott said
she was encouraged the public could see some
structures of the bridge, showing progress in the
project.
“The contractor (Charles Blalock and Sons) continues
to work diligently to complete the work within the
contract timeline,” Nagi said in an email
correspondence.
Scott said she believes the bridge will “greatly
improve” traffic flow to and from Lenoir City.
“We’re going from a two-lane (bridge) to a four-lane
bridge that will improve the traffic flow,” Scott
said. “As the traffic volumes continue to increase,
this will definitely improve that. The other piece
of it is that it encourages use of Highway 321. We
do have lots of tourists and visitors traveling
through. We want them to get off the interstate at
(Highway) 321 at the Lenoir City exit and utilize
the (Highway) 321 corridor all the way to the Great
Smoky Mountains.
“We believe that this bridge will encourage that
even more so making it an easier, more accessible
way of doing that as an alternative of going the
interstate the entire way to the Great Smoky
Mountains,” she added.