More bridge construction – County now has four bridges scheduled to undergo repairs

And then there were four.

Not only can motorists look forward to upcoming traffic problems from work being done on three local bridges, the Tennessee Department of Transportation now says residents will need to brace for construction on a fourth.

A letter has been received by McMinnville officials informing them that the Frank G. Clement Bridge will be re-surfaced in the future.

According to Mayor Royce Davenport, who received the initial notification, the letter is to make sure all local utilities get their lines out of the way when they are ready to go forward with the work.

Information obtained from TDOT regional community relations officer Jennifer Osborne-Flynn indicates the bridge is ‘due for a bridge repair project, possibly in 2008. The bridge is not structurally deficient. It’s just on our repair list showing that it requires some maintenance.’

The future project includes removing existing asphalt, performing full- and partial-depth deck repairs, replacing expansion joints, placing a new overlay with seal, repairing substructures, repainting structural steel and texture coating the concrete.

As for the other three local bridges scheduled for repair, construction on the Beersheba Street Bridge was supposed to begin in October 2006, but then was pushed back to 2007. With four months left in the year, construction may be pushed back to 2008.

‘That’s not uncommon,’ said Osborne-Flynn when asked about the change in dates. ‘We are asked not to give specific dates of when the project might start. Funding might push the start of the project back, as it did in this case.’

On this bridge, funding comes in phases and the right-of-way phase is the only phase that has been funded. Until there is funding, there can be no definite date the project will begin.

The Ernest Crouch Memorial Bridge and Westwood Bridge are the other two bridges scheduled for construction.