U.S. Highway 321 Bridges, Loudon County, TN

Project Overview

The Loudon Bridge project for State Route 73 (US 321) includes widening a 1.71 mile section on TN SR-73 / US 321 to four lanes, with the construction of three new bridges over the Tennessee River, Tellico Canal, and Norfolk Southern railway. The primary bridge is a welded steel girder spanning more than 4,000 feet across the Tennessee River below the Fort Loudoun dam. This new bridge replaces the J. Carmichael Greer Bridge, which will be removed from the top of the dam as part of the project. Charles Blalock and Sons performed all of the road widening and bridge construction, including extensive marine construction in the Tennessee River for the bridge foundations. This called for an extensive fleet of barges and cranes to place bridge components across the river.

Additionally, bridge construction over the navigation channel of the Tennessee River required constant coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain open river traffic to the lock system at Fort Loudoun Dam. Blalock Ready Mix provided concrete pumping services, and Blalock Equipment Corporation provided dirt and aggregate hauling.