Crews at the Marion Memorial Bridge replacement project in Haletown, Tenn., excavate the Tennessee River bottom for the seventh and last pier for a new $21.5 million bridge that will replace the eight-decade-old truss-style bridge.
HALETOWN, Tenn. – The Marion Memorial Bridge replacement project is on schedule as crews work this month on the last of seven piers to support the span over the Tennessee River above Nickajack Dam.
February 2014 “is still our target completion date” for the Highway 41 project, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said Friday.
Delays last year caused by the discovery of voids and unsuitable material on the river bottom have not affected the project since the first pier work began in fall 2011, Flynn said. Site work began in March 2011, when the original completion date was August 2013.
Andy Horstman, construction manager for Chattanooga-based Volkert Inc., said crews now are working on the last two piers to support spans that will stretch 1,883 feet across the river, just 30 feet or so away from the original 84-year-old Parker truss-style bridge built in 1929.
“We’re starting excavation for the foundation of the last pier,” Horstman said Friday. “If all goes well, we’ll have all the piers completed in early summer.”