TDOT officials said the major U.S. 27 project between Olgiati Bridge and Signal Mountain Road "is progressing very well" and it is on schedule for a February 2015 completion.
Jennifer Flynn of TDOT said originally the project was slated for a December 2014 completion, but the contractor got a couple of months’ time extension because there was additional work added. Wright Brothers Construction Co., Inc. of Charleston, Tn., is the contractor.
Ms. Flynn said, "Actually, factoring in the time extension, the contractor is ahead of the new schedule. To date they have completed 66.1 percent of the work and 55.8 percent of the allowed time has passed."
The extension was granted in March.
Original project cost was $102.5 million. Currently, it is expected to be $105.7 million.
Ms. Flynn said all the retaining walls on the south side of U.S. 27 have been completed, and the contractor is now working on the walls on the north side as well as the roadway and bridges throughout the project area.
She said, "As the project has gone on, there have been adjustments to the cost because of extra items that were added to the contract and some necessary modifications that the contractor had to make. Since the project was let to contract, there have been several new retaining walls added to the project and a couple of the original walls on the project had to be redesigned or modified from the original plans because of changed or unexpected conditions in the field, including finding dirt where you expect to find rock, etc. That is where both the extra cost and the extra time come in.
"When the project was designed, some of the new apartments and townhomes had not been constructed. Some of the new walls were added to ensure slope stability in those areas. It is not uncommon on a project of this magnitude to have to make some changes or add work as the project progresses."