Four Dyer County bridges included in TDOT's Better Bridges Program

This bridge on Lenox-Nauvoo Road is one of four in Dyer County targeted for improvement in the Tennessee Department of Transportation's 2009-2010 Transportation Infrastructure Improvement Bond Program. The Lenox-Nauvoo bridge crossing Coon Creek will be replaced, with three more Dyer County bridges slated for rehabilitation. Four of the 111 structurally deficient bridges to be addressed in the first year of TDOT's Better Bridges Program are located in Dyer County. [Click to enlarge]

TDOT recently identified 111 bridges to be addressed through the initiative, aimed at reducing the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state.

Improvements in Dyer County include:

* replacing the bridge crossing Coon Creek at log mile 3.79 on State Route 182, or Lenox-Nauvoo Road

* rehabilitation of the bridge crossing Bethal Branch at log mile 28.38 on State Route 104

* rehabilitation of the bridge crossing the overflow at log mile 28.85 on State Route 104

* rehabilitation of the bridge crossing Branch at log mile 6.04 on State Route 211

According to TDOT communications spokesperson Julie Oaks, officials hope the projects will be finished by next spring, but residents can plan on completed construction by the beginning of the next fiscal year.

A four-year program approved in 2009 by the Tennessee General Assembly, TDOT's Better Bridges Program will utilize bonds to pay for the repair, rehabilitation or replacement of more than 200 structurally deficient bridges in the state.

"The bridge projects identified for the first year of this program will improve the safety and reliability of more than 100 bridges in Tennessee," said Gov. Phil Bredesen in a recent press release. "Addressing these projects now rather than later allows us to take advantage of today's lower construction costs."

Federal Bureau of Labor statistics show the price of steel and iron scrap falling nearly 57 percent from June 2008 to June 2009, with cement prices down 15 percent over the same period.

"Without this program, much of this critical work on structurally deficient bridges would have to be deferred for years," said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely in the release. "The bridges we rebuild today with this investment will serve the state for decades to come and provide a lasting benefit for future generations."

The most expensive project on the Better Bridges 2009-2010 list will replace the bridge crossing Clinch River (Norris Lake) on State Route 33, or Maynardville Highway in Union County. Originally built in 1936, the bridge replacement has a price tag of over $20 million.

Five projects with costs exceeding $4 million are also included on the list. The bridges, located in Cocke, Perry, Montgomery, Shelby and Sevier counties, date back as far as 1928.

Other West Tennessee counties with bridges on the 2009-2010 list include Carroll, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Haywood and Shelby.

Another TDOT improvement in store for Dyer County is the resurfacing of Interstate 155 from the rest area to Highway 51. That project, set to be completed in the next few months, includes deck repairs to the bridge that will cause lane closures.