| Bridge at Broad and Main to open in time for Uncle Dave |
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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
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Posted: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 1:25 pm
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The bridge at Broad and Main streets will be open for Uncle Dave Macon Days, a Tennessee Department of Transportation official said.
“The contractor has been working very hard to complete the concrete repairs and sidewalk work on the bridge at Main Street before Uncle Dave Macon Days,” said BJ Doughty, TDOT spokeswoman.
The bridge will open back up Tuesday night and remain open, but the second bridge over Lytle Creek near Lytle Street is not finished yet.
“TDOT expects the entire project to wrap up at the end of this month,” Doughty said, adding the Main Street bridge will need some finishing touches, like striping and clean up that will require closure at night.
TDOT started repair work on the aging bridges in February. Neither bridge has had major repairs in their 60-year history, but TDOT had done minor concrete repairs over the years.
When last inspected buy TDOT in Dec. 2006, the bridge at the Main Street intersection was found to be in poor condition and the northern bridge was found in fair condition. Their conditions have deteriorated since, prompting TDOT to begin the project.
The project has taken longer than expected because of excessive rain in May and the bridges were in worse shape than originally thought.
At first, TDOT thought only part of the concrete would have to be replaced on the bridges. After removing the asphalt, crews found the bridges in worse shape than initially thought, meaning more work was needed.
“In this case, there were more repairs, some of which had to be made from the bottom or underneath the bridge rather than from the top,” Doughty said previously. “That's where the weather really didn't cooperate because Lytle Creek was high enough to delay some of that work for a time during the spring.”
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com. |
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