The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) new 16-mile Union-Tupelo Mississippi No. 3 transmission line will bring enhanced reliability and growth capacity to the area of Northeast Mississippi. The project entails connecting the No.3 transmission line to link the 500-kV Union substation to the Brown’s Ferry 161-kV substation.
In order to complete the project, TVA needed to improve the existing roadway / bridge system to allow construction crews and vehicles continuous site access to facilitate construction. It was determined by city engineers that two (2) 60’ bridges along the route were too old and dilapidated for heavy vehicular traffic. TVA contacted Matrax to determine how to solve this problem. Matrax traveled to the project, evaluated the old bridges, met with TVA personnel and recommended single lane steel truss bridges to solve the problem.
TVA contracted with Matrax in order to provide two (2) 70’ long modular pre-engineered steel truss bridges that would provide a safe access bridge crossing for the heavy machinery to complete the project. Within days of receiving the Notice to Proceed, Matrax transported and installed the two bridges. Work started on a Thursday and completed on a Sunday.
Rather than take down the existing bridges, which are still used for light vehicular traffic and pedestrians, Matrax constructed the new 70’ truss bridges above in order to provide a dedicated method for site access for the Brown’s Ferry Transmission line connection. The new bridge is ASHTO 25 rated to meet the necessary specifications for bringing heavy vehicle traffic across for the project.
Installation Time: Matrax was able to install the two lane 70’ truss bridge under 4 days with a 5 man crew.
