Worst Bridge in Southeast Tennessee

When you go across a bridge, you expect it to be sound and sturdy. In the State of the Union message last week, President Obama announced a Fix-It-First'' program to repair the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country.
That got us wondering, where is the most dangerous problem bridge in our viewing area? We did some research and found it, spanning the Conasauga River in Polk County..
In 1924, Calvin Coolidge was president, Earl Scruggs was born and the Ford Model T ruled the roads. Also in 1924, an open-spandrel, concrete arch bridge was built over the Conasauga River in Polk County. It replaced a ford in the river, and was christened the Easley Ford bridge.
Today, the bridge is practically on its last legs, with loose railings, pitted and scarred concrete decking. On an impromptu visit with T-DOT Inspector Chris Smith, we spotted decking that is worn down to the concrete aggregate.
Smith says this bridge is the weakest in Southeast Tennessee. It's rated poor right now, he says. That's one step above critical, which requires bridges to be closed immediately.
Inspectors rate bridges on a scale of sufficiency, and out of a hundred, this one scores just 28-percent. That said, Smith believes the Easley Ford bridge is still safe...for now. If there were any danger of it collapsing, he says, we would have shut it down. You wouldn't be able to drive across it.
As dilapidated as the bridge looks from the top, the real threat is down below, where the Conasauga River is chewing away at the earth where the bridge meets what's left of the bank. If over time, the abutment foundation goes away, what will happen is, the pier itself would start settling, or in the worse case, it could collapse, Smith says.
Why was the condition of the Easley Ford bridge allowed to deteriorate so much with nothing but superficial repair at best? That's the question I put to Polk County Highway administrator Roy Thomason, Jr. I can't answer that, he replied, I don't really have the answer to that. You'd have to ask my predecessor.
When Thomason took over the county highway administrator job in September, he inherited the most dangerous bridge in the area. As far as scaring us about the condition, it just alerted us that we needed to move forward with plans for the bridge.
It's certainly understandable that Thomason is new on the job so its not his fault that this mess has gone on so long. The problem is, when I pressed him on the plans he's talking about, he could not tell us WHEN this bridge is going to be replaced. Right now, it's.... someday.
In northwest Georgia, the worst bridge is the one over Peavine Creek on Three Notch Road in Catoosa County. It is rated 16.4 per cent sufficiency out of a score of 100, and is also on the high replacement list.
Right now there is no consumer link to check bridges in Georgia, but if you'd like to check out bridges in Tennessee, just CLICK HERE.

[@tennyc]

My Great Grandfather Bun Green helped build this bridge , thanks for this video, 7 yrs later and nothing done to repair or give this bridge historical landmark status a real shame , the last time I walked under it, there were literally 3 dirt dauber nests holding the entire thing up .

[@brianblithe2271]

4/30/24 still there. I dont think Obama is a man of his word and doesnt live up to his self anointed integrity.

[@Rebel9668]

That bridge looks absolutely modern compared to some of the bridges up here in Indiana. We still have iron bridges with wood decking that were built back in the 1880's that are still open, lol.

[@brianblithe2271]

Hate to be a pest about news reporting but is there a name for this bridge ? Update : 4/30/24, Obama did not live up to his words, in fact bridge is still there. god luck people.