State Route 92 Bridge in Jefferson County to close March 1

Knoxville, Tenn. – Beginning Monday, March 1, 2010 workers with Southern Constructors, Inc. will close the State Route 92 Bridge over the French Broad River in Dandridge for repairs. The scheduled closure is part of the TDOT bridge repair project that began in November 2009.

 

The $1,483,607 project consist of repairs to steel structural stringers, removal of the existing asphalt riding surface, performing full and partial depth concrete deck repairs, spot painting of structural steel and applying a new bridge deck sealant.

 

Since the project began, crews have been performing spot painting of the structural steel from underneath the bridge without any traffic interruptions. Restrictions were placed in the contract which prevented the contractor from closing the bridge or impeding traffic prior to March 1 to ensure that the bridge would remain open during the winter months when temperature sensitive work would normally be halted.

 

Traffic will be detoured around the bridge closure by using US 25/70 and US 411/SR 35 back to State Route 92.

 

“With the roadway on the bridge being just 18 feet wide and the extensive repairs that need to be done, it’s simply not feasible to keep the bridge open during repairs,” said TDOT Region One Director Steve Borden. “However, we understand the impact this bridge closure will have on the residents of Jefferson County and have made provisions to expedite this project.”

 

In order to expedite construction time and to minimize inconvenience to residents and motorists in this area, TDOT incorporated a $100,000 “no excuse bonus” incentive for the contactor to complete the project early. The incentive is set up on a payment schedule and if the project is completed in its entirety by April 17, 2010, the contractor will receive 100% of the bonus incentive. For every week after the April 17 date, the incentive decreases by 25%.

 

The contractor faces a disincentive deduction of $3,500 per calendar day should the contractor fail to complete the project by May 15, 2010.

 

For more information on this, or any other TDOT construction project, visit www.tn.gov/tdot/tdotsmartway. TDOT is also on Twitter. For up to the minute traffic information you can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/knoxville511. For statewide travel information you can follow www.twitter.com/TN511.