Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen joined House Speaker Kent Williams, Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner Gerald Nicely, Sen. Rusty Crowe and officials from Carter County to break ground on a local bridge replacement project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Carter County project will replace a steel truss bridge along Steel Bridge Road at Wilbur Dam Road.
“This project is a great representation of how the Recovery Act benefits local economies,” said Bredesen. “This one-lane bridge is in a dangerous curve, is nearly 70 years old and carries close to 100 vehicles a day. By replacing this bridge with 100% Recovery Act funds, the county government saves more than $300,000 in matching funds, but more importantly this project will create jobs and provide Carter County residents with a better bridge and a safer roadway.”
The Carter County project is one of 10 local bridge replacement projects included in TDOT’s March 20 letting. The $1.5 million project was awarded to Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. and involves the replacement of a bridge owned and maintained by the county. Normally, the county would be required to provide a 20% match in order to receive bridge replacement funds, but that match is waived for projects funded through the federal Recovery Act.
“Members of the Carter County community have used this small, one-lane bridge for decades, and the curvy road leading to and from the bridge has been a safety concern for some time,” House Speaker Kent Williams added. “I’m pleased the governor and TDOT are using Recovery Act funds to rebuild this aging bridge and realign this curvy road and am especially pleased the state is saving our citizens the $300,000 in matching funds.”
Sen. Rusty Crowe added, “This steel bridge is a good example of the needs Tennessee counties face each year in terms of transportation. Replacing this bridge is a good first step toward improving our infrastructure in Carter County.”
The steel through-truss bridge is located on Steel Bridge Road (near Wilbur Dam Road) in Carter County and was originally constructed in 1941. No reconstruction or major repairs to the bridge have occurred since the original construction. The bridge is rated as structurally deficient and functionally obsolete and has been posted for a maximum allowable weight.
“Hundreds of workers, from the bridge builders to the dump truck drivers, will be employed by the contractor on this Recovery Act project,” said Commissioner Nicely. “This is one of many projects in Tennessee that will utilize Recovery Act funds to repair our aging infrastructure and create jobs in our economically distressed areas.”
TDOT staff considered several factors in determining which projects would be funded by the Recovery Act. The most important was that a project be ready to go to construction by July. TDOT also gave consideration to projects that can be completed in three years and are in economically distressed areas. TDOT plans to let all ARRA-funded projects by July, which means all ARRA-funded projects will be under way this summer. Some 24,000 direct and indirect jobs are estimated to be created or maintained through Recovery Act infrastructure funding in Tennessee.
