This photo taken in August shows the old Marion Memorial Bridge, circa1927, alongside the new replacement span expected to be complete in November. The replacement project began in March 2011.
NEW BRIDGE FACTSMarch 23, 2011: Project start$21.6 million: Estimated cost1,883 feet: New bridge length50 feet: Lane and shoulder width60 feet: Vertical navigation clearance415 feet: Main span length48: Number of girders10 feet: Maximum girder height150 feet: Maximum girder length180,000 pounds: Heaviest individual girder13,000: Cubic yards of concrete in projectOLD BRIDGE FACTS1929: Year built1966: Reconstructed (for change in water level with completion of Nickajack Dam)$488,848: Project cost1,870 feet: Bridge length20 feet: Lane width57 feet: Vertical navigation clearance2,250: Average daily traffic 2009Source: Tennessee Department of Transportation, Britton Bridge LLC and historicbridges.org
HALETOWN, Tenn. - Haletown resident Chris McNabb was born 53 years ago on the old U.S. Highway 41 bridge over the Tennessee River.
"They were taking my mom to [Dr. J.G.] McMillian's clinic and the bridge scared her so bad she went into labor," McNabb said over his lunch Thursday at the Anchor Inn Bait & Tackle Store at the east end of the old bridge.
"By the time they got to Jasper, I was in the world," said McNabb, who was seated at a small table in sight of the old bridge scheduled for demolition in the coming months.
Tennessee Department of Transportation and construction officials say traffic is expected to start crossing the replacement for the 1929-era Marion Memorial Bridge in November, if not before.
But even with his birthplace slated for scrapping, McNabb and other Haletown residents are ready to see the end of the project that started in March 2011.
"I know it's been a major inconvenience," he said. Still, he wishes the old bridge could have been saved as a pedestrian span like Chattanooga's Walnut Street Bridge.
"If you saw somebody walking across that bridge," he said, jabbing a thumb toward the river behind him, "they were broke down."
In 2000, TDOT studied what it would take to preserve the former toll bridge as a pedestrian walkway. Estimates then to clean and replace steel parts, install pedestrian-friendly handrails and fencing and install new decking ran about $1.6 million for a timber deck and $1.9 million for concrete.
Unofficial annual maintenance estimates far exceeded $125,000 for a pedestrian bridge, and officials estimated that when the bridge inevitably grew too old for renovation, its demolition would cost $800,000.
The original project completion date was August 2013, but there were delays to set piers deeper into the riverbed and to come up with a new plan for erecting the steel structure after TDOT balked at contractor Britton Bridge's first plan.
"It's coming together and it looks pretty good," said Jamie Tucker, an inspector for Volkert Inc., the consulting firm working under TDOT. About 75 workers are on site as the project nears an end.
Tucker said crews last week were working on utility line transfer from the old bridge to the new, followed by guardrail installation on the approaches. The lines belong to AT&T, Charter Cable and Jasper Water Works.
"We should be getting close by late October," Tucker said.
A date has not been set to demolish the old bridge, TDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said.
"When we do determine a date for the demolition, U.S. 41 will probably be closed for an hour or so when the old trusses are demolished."
Interstate 24 and Marion County Park will not be affected, she said.
"Once we get the old bridge taken down, we'll do the last layer of paving on the new bridge," Tucker said. He said he'd like to get the last layer down before traffic starts flowing, but officials want to relieve local residents of the inconvenient 1.5-mile detour as soon as they can.
For the first time in almost four years, Anchor Inn Bait & Tackle owner Linda Castle can smile when she talks about the project. The "road closed" signs have stood between her store and the bridge since 2011.
"I can't believe we're still open after all of this," she said while ringing up customers at the register last week. "It's been a rough road on this dead-end road."
Now she's starting to look ahead.
During the project, Castle changed the store's layout to accommodate dining tables for work crews that come to the store for plate lunches. After the new bridge opens, she plans to put the bait and tackle part of the store back in full operation for anglers and campers from Marion County Park on the other side of the river.
But Castle wants to keep serving plate lunches Monday through Friday, too, since there aren't many places nearby for a sit-down lunch.
And Castle's adding non-ethanol gasoline for boaters and tournament anglers as business in Haletown returns to normal.
"It's been a long four years; seems like 40," she said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.