LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — Repairs to the Sparta Pike overpass on I-40 in Lebanon are scheduled to begin this weekend, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Beginning Sunday, the repairs will bring with them alternating single-lane closures on Sparta Pike, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each day. TDOT says this is to avoid rush-hour traffic.
A weekend-long closure of both northbound lanes on Sparta Pike is also scheduled from 8 p.m. Friday, June 3 to 8 a.m. Monday, June 6. During that closure, the damaged beam will be removed and a new beam will be set. During that closure, northbound traffic on Sparta Pike will be given a signed detour through Maddox Simpson Parkway, Highway 231 and Tennessee Boulevard.
Repairs are expected to be completed by July 15, before the Tennessee State Fair at the Wilson County Fairgrounds brings with it an increase in traffic in August.
The emergency contract for the repairs was awarded on April 15 to Mid-State Construction for just over $837,000.
These repairs are in response to the overpass having been damaged in March, when a roll-off truck drove under it with the truck bed raised, damaging the concrete beam underneath. Due to the incident, the off ramp of Exit 239B at Highway 70 was closed to traffic, with a detour put in place.
Because of the overpass's damage history — four times in the past three years — TDOT has placed three lit vertical clearance signs along north and south lanes of Sparta Pike.
