CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –As part of the bridge replacement project on I-24 over Germantown Road in Chattanooga, TDOT contract crews will begin nighttime pile driving operations for bridge foundations on Germantown Road near I-24 starting on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Because pile driving operations will require Germantown Road to be reduced to one lane in each direction, the work will be done at night between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. EDT when traffic volume is less.

Nighttime pile driving operations will continue on a regular basis until the end of June, although there will be times where testing, preparation and weather interrupts the activity. Depending on how the pile driving operations progress, intermittent nighttime pile driving operations could be possible at this location until the beginning of August.

Pile driving, in this case, will involve the use of specialized machinery to hammer steel or concrete supports into the ground to form the foundation for the future bridges on this project. Driving piles is typically the loudest operation on a construction project with a repetitive steel-on-steel impact, so residents near the work zone will likely experience noise and disturbance while the piles are driven. 

This work is being done as part of a project to replace bridges over and on I-24 near mile marker 183 in Chattanooga, including the bridge on Belvoir Avenue over I-24 and the bridges on I-24 over Germantown Road.