Built By Contractor Now Working On I-40 In Knoxville

By TOM YANCEY

Staff Writer

A new, wider, safer bridge over Lick Creek on North Mohawk Road was officially opened Friday with a ribbon-cutting by county and state elected officials.

County Road Superintendent David Weems said work on the project was authorized in mid-August of 2007 and was completed in mid-March of this year.

Tim Teague, the project engineer with W&W Engineering, of Greeneville, said actual construction by the general contractor, Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc., of Sevierville, began Sept. 24.

Teague said the new bridge is wider and considerably stronger than the bridge it replaced.

The bridge has parapet railing 42 inches tall on each side.

The old bridge had only about 19 feet of inside width, said project foreman Jimmy Weeks, while the new one features 24 feet, 6 inches of "travelable" width.

Teague said the original bid from Blalock was $509,750, but may be revised when the final paperwork is submitted.

Blalock & Sons was the general contractor on the Oscar B. Lovette Bridge on the Asheville Highway in 2006, and currently is the contractor on the massive "Smart Fix 40" interstate project in Knoxville.

Weems said Blalock & Sons was "very cooperative and easy to work with, and they did a good job."

County Mayor Alan Broyles said, "The county appreciates this cooperative effort of the county Highway Department and the state. It's another example of how people working together make good things happen."

State Covers 80 Percent

Because the Lick Creek bridge replacement was a "state aid" project, 80 percent of the cost will be covered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and 20 percent by Greene County's government.

Road Superintendent Weems said the county Highway Department constructed the bridge approaches and paved them after the bridge was done, and also installed guard rails. The county Highway Department also provided fill dirt. He said the roadway will be paint-striped to complete the county's work.

Weems said he thinks that the county has performed enough of this "in-kind" work to meet the 20 percent cost-share requirement. Teague agreed.

Weems said he hopes to be able to replace another bridge in the county next year as a state-aid project, if funds are available.

State Rep. Eddie Yokley, R-11th, of Greene County, said he was pleased that the state "has been able to fund bridges, as we're doing. Hopefully, we'll continue to see our district continuously improved with new bridges, since Greene County has so many" that need upgrading, "literally in the hundreds," Yokley said.

State Rep. David Hawk, R-1st, of Greeneville, said he was also "pleased to be able to support this project in Greene County."

Traffic that would normally have used the bridge to travel from Mohawk Crossroads on U.S. Highway 11E to the community of Mohawk has been detoured since last fall to Idell Road, Porter Kite Road and Phillipi Road.

Weems and County Mayor Alan Broyles thanked the citizens of Mohawk and the surrounding area for their patience while the bridge was being built.

Improved Water Line

Teague, the project engineer, said the Old Knox Utility District had a water line suspended under the old bridge, but the utility has decided to bore through rock under the creek and install a new high-density polyethylene pipe as a replacement for the old line.

The old line was four inches in diameter, he said, but the utility district decided to replace it with an eight-inch line, which should improve water flow in the Mohawk area once that work is completed.

Teague said the utility district has routed water to the Mohawk area by several other water lines during construction, and that work should be completed soon.