Workers move equipment onto the bridge spanning the Chickamauga Dam to make repairs late Thursday. State Highway 153 will be closed for the next several days.The Thrasher Bridge over the Chickamauga Dam closed Thursday to traffic to allow crews to repair roadway expansion joints, a news release states.
The closure will continue until about 6 a.m. on June 23, subject to weather.
TVA worked with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a repair plan that provided the greatest degree of safety for motorists and work crews while minimizing repair times, the news release stated.
Southbound motorists traveling on Tennessee Highway 153 will be diverted onto Dupont Parkway and northbound traffic onto Amnicola Highway. All vehicles will cross the river on the C.B. Robinson Bridge. The total detour is less than 1.5 miles.
Signs and placards will direct local access to Lakeshore Drive for both north- and southbound traffic.
Multiple expansion joints on the north end of the bridge have degraded over time and need to be replaced, according to the news release from TVA. Additional concrete work also will be done.