State Bridge Profile Tennessee 2014

1. © 2015 The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of
ARTBA.
Highlights from FHWA’s 2014 National Bridge Inventory Data:
 Of the 20,077 bridges in the state, 1,083 bridges, or 5% are classified as structurally deficient.
This means one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or
substructure, is considered to be in “poor” or worse condition.1
 There are 2,863 bridges, or 14% of all state bridges, classified as functionally obsolete. This
means the bridge does not meet design standards that are in line with current practice.
 State and local contract awards for bridge construction totaled $1.17 billion over the past five
years, 29 percent of highway and bridge contract awards, compared to a national average of 29
percent.
 Since 2004, 1,437 new bridges have been constructed in the state and 200 bridges have
undergone major reconstruction.
 The state estimates that it would cost approximately $9.6 billion to fix a total of 7,358 bridges in
the state.2
Bridge Inventory:
All Bridges Structurally deficient Bridges
Type of Bridge
Total
Number
Area (sq.
meters)
Daily
Crossings
Total
Number
Area (sq.
meters)
Daily
Crossings
Rural Bridges
Interstate 706 720,908 24,276,090 19 35,787 677,620
Other principal arterial 1,251 1,168,525 12,226,113 22 37,628 160,640
Minor arterial 1,535 882,038 7,333,324 77 76,050 378,940
Major collector 2,043 687,230 3,906,034 69 34,995 113,300
Minor collector 3,310 793,883 2,803,211 182 40,090 128,840
Local 6,920 1,044,126 1,919,948 540 60,043 100,581
Urban Bridges
Interstate 719 1,284,315 53,690,410 17 69,617 1,405,540
Other freeway 317 554,531 10,818,542 9 11,730 458,560
Principal arterial 987 1,223,585 19,643,540 32 72,751 834,390
Minor arterial 884 716,191 9,620,178 35 36,985 371,420
Collector 436 177,741 1,915,655 22 9,336 104,910
Rural 969 268,921 1,876,520 59 17,568 100,820
Total 20,077 9,521,993 150,029,565 1,083 502,580 4,835,561
1
According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a bridge is classified as structurally deficient if the condition rating for the deck,
superstructure, substructure or culvert and retaining walls is rated 4 or below or if the bridge receives an appraisal rating of 2 or less for
structural condition or waterway adequacy. During inspections, the condition of a variety of bridge elements are rated on a scale of 0 (failed
condition) to 9 (excellent condition). A rating of 4 is considered “poor” condition and the individual element displays signs of advanced section
loss, deterioration, spalling or scour.
2
This data is provided by bridge owners as part of the FHWA data and is required for any bridge eligible for the Highway Bridge Replacement
and Rehabilitation Program. However, for some states this amount is very low and likely not an accurate reflection of current costs.
State Bridge Profile
Tennessee

2. © 2015 The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of
ARTBA.
Proposed bridge work:
Type of Work Number Cost (millions) Daily Crossings Area (sq. meters)
Bridge replacement 1,156 $2,879.0 4,211,868 472,486
Widening & rehabilitation 3,590 $1,381.4 19,100,666 1,356,882
Rehabilitation 2,281 $4,525.4 34,675,634 1,238,421
Deck rehabilitation/replacement 117 $477.5 1,007,670 187,176
Other work 214 $309.5 1,243,657 101,599
Top 10 Most Traveled Structurally Deficient Bridges in the State:
County
Year
Built
Daily
Crossings
Type of Bridge Location
Shelby 1963 148,110 Urban Interstate I-240 EB over the BNSF Railroad
Davidson 1961 129,340 Urban Interstate I-24 over the CSX Railroad and Oldham Street
Davidson 1961 111,470 Urban Interstate I-24 over Spring Street
Davidson 1968 104,800 Urban Interstate I-40 over Jo Johnson Street
Shelby 1963 99,000 Urban Interstate I-240 EB over Kerr Avenue
Shelby 1963 99,000 Urban Interstate I-240 WB over I-240 WB/Kerr Avenue
Davidson 1985 97,100 Urban Interstate I-440 over L4-SN167-RL/L3-SN164&165
Davidson 1962 91,240 Urban Interstate I-40 over I-40/Westboro Road
Davidson 1967 90,800 Urban Interstate I-65 over the Cumberland River and Cowan Street
Davidson 1963 82,530 Urban Interstate I-65 over the CSX Railroad
Sources: All data is from the 2014 National Bridge Inventory, released by the Federal Highway Administration in January 2015.
Note that specific conditions on bridge may have changed as a result of recent work. Cost estimates of bridge work provided as
part of the data and have been adjusted to 2014$ for inflation and estimated project costs. Contract awards data is for state
and local government awards and comes from McGraw Hill. Note that additional bridge investment may be a part of other
contract awards if a smaller bridge project is included with a highway project, and that would not be accounted for in the total
in this profile.