Gay street bridge closed
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Taken from the southern shore of the Tennessee River, a 1865 photograph shows the newer bridge on the extreme right.
The Gay Street Bridge
The current closure is another chapter of catastrophes and construction projects across the Tennessee River
Despite several periods when the Gay Street Bridge has been closed for repairs, mostly recently during a major renovation from 2001 to 2004, the structure has been remarkably dependable.
By early 1864, the pontoon bridge had deteriorated, and a stronger bridge, built by Union engineers and soldiers, was positioned next to it. The town of Knoxville had been established decades earlier on the bluff above the river by our founding fathers who felt that this elevated plateau (where the City County Building is today) would provide protection against flooding.
What size bridge would be needed?
The existing arched cantilever steel bridge is highly visible, and historic – it’s one of downtown’s centerpieces. During the relentless deluge, the Union Army bridge was washed away, along with numerous houses and factories like the Gas Works all along the riverfront. “And you're really talking about the valuation of a new bridge.
How long until more repairs are needed? In effect, a small plaza will be created, beginning in October.
“This will change the character of the intersection to more safely accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists,” Clabo said.
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Gay Street Bridge to remain permanently closed to vehicles due to structural damage
Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon announced on Wednesday the historic Gay Street Bridge, which spans the Tennessee River connecting North and South Knoxville, will never reopen to regular vehicular traffic due to the price of repairs.
(Library of Congress.)
After the Union Army took over the city from Confederate forces in 1863 during the Civil War, a Confederate-built pontoon bridge was moved from Loudon to Knoxville to strengthen communications and supplies across the river. More and more residents, and visitors to South Knoxville businesses and parks, are counting on it.
Looking south across the Gay Street Bridge, 2023 by Shawn Poynter.
The Gay Street Bridge is currently closed following a recent Tennessee Department of Transportation safety report.
Soon James White, the first settler in the area, and one of the town’s founding fathers, would operate a ferry from the mouth of First Creek.
But costs can vary wildly, depending on size and design elements.
“The steel is 127 years old, and it’s really fatigued,” Engineering Director Tom Clabo said, holding a warped batten plate with holes rusted through it that was replaced on the bridge this summer. Locals accumulated along the banks and on the bridge to watch all kinds of flotsam and jetsam float down the river, including buildings and even a haystack with a cow munching calmly on it.
That road has seen a large amount of additional growth in recent years, drawing a multimillion-dollar infrastructure investment from the city.
“All of those businesses along Sevier Avenue are the lifeblood of that corridor, and they have asked us, if at all possible, to please make it open to pedestrians,” Smith said. It’s been barricaded ever since as the Knoxville City Council allocated nearly $1 million to pay engineering firm Gresham Smith to inspect damages and estimate repair costs.
According to Knoxville Deputy Director of Engineering Christopher Howley, repairing the bridge for vehicle use would be too costly to make it worthwhile for the city.
“We're talking in the 40, 50 million [dollars] for a repair of a bridge that's that age,” Howley said.
(McClung Historical Collection.)
Although the 1881 bridge still passed safety inspections, construction bids were solicited by the City in 1896 from bridge-building firms for a replacement structure. The bridge did not connect to Gay Street but was positioned a little to the east near the mouth of First Creek and appears to align with State Street.
Flooding along the river near Knoxville during the Great Freshet of 1867.
The streetcar route across the river, extending eastward along Sevier Avenue, would later serve the new fashionable suburban development of Island Home Park that began to take off after the first lots were sold in 1912. What happens when more pieces warp or break?
Mayor Indya Kincannon’s administration is asking City Council at its Tuesday meeting to authorize application for a $1 million Federal Highway Administration grant to step up the process of studying options for a possible modern replacement bridge – one that could once again bear the weight of motorized vehicles.
If Council authorizes the grant application, and if federal funds (with a $200,000 City local match) ultimately are approved, then bridge design specialists and City staff would hammer out preliminary plans for what happens if or when the current bridge can no longer be serviced.
How many years of service are left in the existing bridge?
Let’s hope that after a short closure, and yet another renovation, the bridge shall remain that way for years to come. It would be six more years before a replacement bridge would be built.
Not much is known about the second river bridge, which is hardly surprising since it opened in the fall of 1873 and remained for only 18 months before another brutal storm washed it away in 1875.
City officials will, however, vote on a $2 million repair plan in March that would make the bridge safe for pedestrians and cyclists.
“We were hoping we could restore it back to its regular loads, and that is not possible because of the wear and tear after 127 years,” Kincannon said.