CANEY FORK RIVER BRIDGE

Smithville, Tennessee

Massman constructed this replacement for the Sligo Bridge over the Caney Fork River arm of Center Hill Lake for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The new bridge is a 1,545-foot continuous span, 8.5-foot-deep plate girder bridge with five equal spans supported by two abutments: three piers in the water and one pier on land. The waterborne piers are supported by three 11.5-foot diameter drilled shafts with 11-foot diameter rock sockets. The drilled shafts are up to 160 feet in length and constructed in water depths of up to 100 feet, requiring all work to be performed off of heavy lift crane barges. The drilled shafts are capped with 12-foot wide by 8-foot deep by 87-foot-long concrete struts that lead up to conventional 8-foot diameter columns and 8.5-foot-deep pier caps. Once the new bridge was open to traffic, the old bridge was demolished and removed.