A $5.6 million project to replace the 1927 bridge over Lookout Creek on Cummings Highway is underway.
Construction of the concrete bulb-tee beam bridge includes grading, drainage and paving.
The contractor will be implementing temporary lane closures or shifts between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the work zone for utility relocations and bridge construction. Flaggers will be in place to assist with traffic control.
Estimated project completion date is July 2011.
The contractor, Talley Construction Company, is currently doing utility and excavation work.
The project started in late September.
The contractor constructed a haul road to move material and equipment. The work on the bridge itself will be phased construction - the firm will build half of the new bridge, then turn traffic onto the new structure, demolish the old bridge and build the other new half and tie both new halves in together.
When the bridge is complete, it will have two 10-foot shoulders and four 12-foot lanes. It will be a total of 70 feet wide from parapet to parapet, have four spans and be 520 feet long.
The new bridge will be on a slightly different alignment to take the curve out of the road and to improve sight distance.
TDOT officials noted that the current bridge has narrow lanes with no shoulders.