The Walnut Street Bridge renovations may need another few weeks next year due to unforeseen work, according to city documents.
The Chattanooga City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to give two contractors an extra $5.5 million for costs involving major steel repairs, light fixtures, new security cameras and inspections.
Repairs to the city’s pedestrian bridge over the Tennessee River — a major downtown attraction — began in March. The city at that time said the $35.3 million project would close the bridge until September 2026.
The new money and new work will officially extend contractor work by two weeks, but “a future time extension will most likely be needed,” according to the funding request.
The additions will come from the project’s contingency fund, according to Brian Smith, spokesperson for the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Department. Unused contingency money will come back to the city, but because it has already been set aside for the project, the funding requests will not affect the city budget, he said.
“While there may be a few adjustments at various points during the renovation, at this time, we still expect the Walnut Street Bridge to reopen as scheduled, September 2026,” Smith said by email.
Council chair Jenny Hill of North Chattanooga is still concerned about the budget as the project moves forward, she said. There is about $860,000 left in the contingency fund with a year to go. The project is moving quickly, she said, which she’s happy to see — but she’s unsure how many more unforeseen costs there will be.
Walnut Street Bridge may need more time for repairs
One of the two contractors made the bulk of the funding requests: Southern Road and Bridge, based out of Florida. Representatives of the company are asking for about $5 million because of repairs needed for the structure of the bridge and its steel. The contractor discovered a “substantial amount of repairs” needed on a section of the underside of the bridge, which would “vastly overrun” the contractor’s current budget to fix, according to the funding request.
Southern Road and Bridge also noted that the initial contract only involved installing security cameras, not obtaining them. The additional money will account for buying the security cameras as well.
The contractor’s original price tag was $34.6 million. It will now amount to about $40 million, after previous requests for more funding as well.
(READ MORE: Here’s what you should know about the Walnut Street Bridge’s 18-month closure)
Council member Raquetta Dotley of East Lake said she’s bracing for the contractors to find more sections of the bridge that need major fixes. The original foundations of the bridge are over a century old. The modern bridge is over 30 years old. She thinks delays are to be expected, she said.
“What I’ve learned now is that with any development, the chances of a delay are inevitable,” Dotley said. “The bridge is so old. All the delays are for all the years we did not do the maintaining.”
Dotley called this stage of the project the “messy middle,” where the unpredictable problems start to pop up.
The other contractor, Volkert and Associates, is asking for about $435,000 for more inspections and other administrative work. The money would be a 48% increase in Volkert and Associates’ current funding — which had already more than doubled from previous funding requests in 2024 and beyond.
In the meantime, the bridge’s closure will impact 2025 Ironman Chattanooga, which typically routes over the Walnut Street Bridge. Instead, the running and biking courses will go over Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Contact government reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.