CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A little over a year ago, the Walnut Street Bridge was closed for a major renovation project.
Thursday , we got a look at the progress of that work.
The Walnut Street Bridge project is roughly 60 percent completed after beginning roughly a year ago.
The over 40 million dollar project has featured a new paint job and repairs for the steel, electrical overhauls and a full replacement of the wood deck.
The repainting and repairs of the steel are nearly 100% complete as all of it has been repainted into the familiar blue color of the bridge.
Crews had to replace some floor beams and truss connections due to corrosion issues under the old deck.
During our told Thursday, you could see the difference between the older wood, which was yellow pine wood, and the newly installed Alaskan Yellow Cedar.
Crews say that this wood was chosen for its natural resistance to insects and humidity, and its lifespan is expected to be over 30 years.
The lead project manager from Southern Road and Pine, James Caron, said, “The wood that was here as you can see has lived out its life expectancy, so this project absolutely needed to be done. There’s no question about it as when we started the bridge was in rough shape. When we hand it back to you guys, it’s gonna be exactly what you paid for.”
The bridge will be open for runners of the Chattanooga Marathon on Sunday, which is one of the few events that it opens for during the construction progress.
Caron said, “We have barricaded off the sidewalks for safety, but it really does kind of change the way that we sequence this work because we need to make sure that we’re at good stopping point, like with the deck.”
Citizens, especially those on the Northshore, are anxiously awaiting the reopening of the bridge.
Jenny Hill, the city council representative for the Northshore, said that pedestrian traffic has been high recently and that, “When the bridge opens, I think we can anticipate a tsunami of pedestrians.”
The bridge is on track to reopen in late September, and there are plans for numerous events to celebrate that milestone.
