HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Motorists should expect single-lane closures for rehabilitation work on the northbound I-65 Tennessee River Bridge each weekend in October, beginning this Friday, Oct. 4.
The contractor will close the outside lane about 6 p.m. on Fridays and reopen it about 5 a.m. on Mondays.
Please expect delays on the northbound roadway during the weekends. Plan additional travel time or use alternate routes. For real-time traffic updates, including congestion and live traffic camera feeds, visit ALGOTraffic.com.
First and last planned daytime lane closures
Until now, lane closures on the river bridges have been limited to nighttime. The majority of the work has taken place under the bridge. However, concrete repairs to the deck of the northbound bridge will necessitate these longer-duration closures. Beyond the four weekends in October, no daytime lane closures are planned for the remainder of the project.
“We’ve worked closely with the contractor, Cekra, to limit impacts to traffic,” said ALDOT North Region Engineer Curtis Vincent. “They found ways to complete some work items overnight that we initially thought would require around-the-clock closures.”
The project includes painting the bridges and repairing concrete and structural steel. The northbound bridge, left, is draped with curtains for containment during cleaning. / ALDOT
Project status
The $23.7 million bridge rehab project includes cleaning, painting, and repairing concrete and structural steel on the 50-year-old bridges. Though originally anticipated to take more than two years, work is already more than halfway complete and the project appears on track for substantial completion in 2025.
Cekra used abrasive blasting to prepare surfaces for painting. Under the bridge, a large recycler separates material for disposal, such as old paint and rust, from the reusable steel grit used for blasting. / ALDOT
Cleaned and freshly-painted steel members on the underside of the bridge deck. / ALDOT
