Repair work has started on a $2.7 million makeover for the Walnut Street Bridge, just as the area’s wildfire smoke begins to dissipate and temperatures start to fall in the Tennessee Valley.
Chattanooga’s iconic 1890 Pennsylvania truss bridge, closed in 1978 and reopened as a pedestrian thoroughfare in 1993, will receive repairs to its foundation, supporting piers, steel structure and wooden decking over the next six months, according to city officials and engineering consultants.
“We’re making sure that’s a safe and wonderful place for people to enjoy our city,” Mayor Andy Berke has said of the bridge’s overhaul.
Late Friday morning, workers clad in neon-yellow safety vests tackled various tasks under the bridge, pouring concrete to strengthen steel columns and using heavy tools to remove ancient rust. Above, people strolled and jogged back and forth across 2,400-foot span over the Tennessee River, which connects downtown Chattanooga to the North Shore. A smoky haze veiled the downtown shoreline, revealing the Hunter Museum and nearby buildings only as vague shapes.
The lingering smoke and associated air quality warnings haven’t affected the work, Volkert & Associates project manager Tony Montiel said Friday as he and a project inspector marked wooden deck planks requiring replacement.