The Tennessee Department of Transportation will begin work this week on a project to repair the bridge on I-24 East over Chestnut Street at mile marker 178.6 near the U.S. 27 interchange. The project will also make safety improvements on two other bridges in the same area, one over the CSX Railroad and one over U.S. 27. In addition to making major bridge deck repairs to the bridge over Chestnut Street, this project includes the installation of high-friction surface treatment on all of the bridge decks. This area has an above-average crash rate, and this safety project should help to reduce that number.
On Thursday and Friday nights, between 7 p.m.
and 6 a.m., the contractor will begin shifting traffic and reworking overhead signs. Once the traffic is shifted and the signs reworked, work on the project will begin. If rain postpones this work, it will be rescheduled to take place as soon as possible.
During the project, the bridge on I-24 East will be completely closed to traffic and a detour using the Lookout Mountain/Broad Street ramp (Exit 178) will be used to move traffic around the work zone and allow it to continue on I-24 East. Once I-24 East is closed for bridge repairs, all repair operations will be done using a continuous daily operation (7 days per week) until necessary repairs are completed and/or all lanes are open to the free, unrestricted flow of traffic. Additionally, traffic accessing Lookout Mtn./Broad St. from U.S. 27 South will be detoured until completion of the project.
Dement Construction Co., LLC of Memphis is the contractor for the $2,118,003.30 project, which is slated for completion by Nov. 15.
From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest construction activity and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras at www.TNSmartWay.com/Traffic. Travelers can also dial 511 from any land-line or cellular phone for travel information, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TN511 for statewide travel or Chattanooga area alerts@Chattanooga511 or any of TDOT’s other Twitter pages. As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for your destination. Drivers should never tweet, text or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel.