Tim Meris

A crew painting the South Crest Road bridge can look to the west for one of Chattanooga’s best views, but the 40-foot drop to Interstate 24 might be one of the city’s scariest sights.

Eight men from Florida sandblasting the South Crest bridge this week will stay in town for about three months, sanding and then repainting three bridges — South Crest, Old Ringgold and South Seminole — over the roadway, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The repair work will cost $632,280, said Jennifer Flynn, a TDOT spokeswoman. The work should last 20 or more years, according to managers with the bridge repair company.

According to TDOT statistics, every day about 115,000 vehicles pass under the men at the South Crest Road bridge. They work for Seminole Equipment out of Tarpon Springs, Fla. Fortunately for the workers, their view down is blocked by tarpaulins strung to keep any loose material from falling on cars.

“The first few times you do it, you’re scared,” said Tony Damalos, the crew foreman who has been painting bridges for 40 years. “After a while you get used to it.”

Even though the crew members take elaborate safety precautions, it’s not a job for those who are afraid of heights, said Tim Meris, the crew’s health and safety officer.

“We lay down cables first and then we build a cage with fencing and then put down several layers of tarps to protect cars that pass by,” Mr. Meris said. “On top of that, the men are all harnessed in. They wear respirators and three layers of clothes to protect from the sandblasting.”

Despite all that, plenty of new workers quit after only one day, Mr. Meris and Mr. Damalos agreed.

“It’s good work. It pays really well,” Mr. Meris said. “But it’s not for everyone.”

Jobs such as the ones in Chattanooga aren’t so bad, he said. This week’s weather, while chilly, is balmy compared to the icy, windy storms the crew endured in Oklahoma in January, he said.

Mr. Meris said that, while the risk of falling is mitigated by safety precautions, there still is some risk from passing traffic on some of the bridges’ shorter sections.

The South Crest bridge is no problem because it’s so tall, he said, but there are parts of the bridges at Old Ringgold and South Seminole too short to use the fenced cages. On those sections, the men hang from harnesses and are in danger of being hit by tall tractor-trailers, he said.

That work will take place at night and the lanes directly underneath will be closed, Mr. Meris said.

Ms. Flynn said those closings are scheduled for sometime next month. The highway department will warn motorists through signs and media alerts, she said.

BY THE NUMBERS

* 8: painters from Seminole Equipment

* 2 to 3 months: completion time for all three bridges

* 16 feet, 8 inches: height of the Old Ringgold Road bridge

* 17 feet, 1 inch: height of South Seminole Road bridge

* 40 feet: height of South Crest Road bridge