Repair work beginning on iconic swinging bridge

Repairs to the swinging bridge at Riverfront Park are expected to begin during the week of April 4.  Work is expected to be completed in early June. Inland Construction, Inc. will be the contractor performing this work for the City of Kingsport.

The bridge will remain closed to the public during construction and reopen once the repairs are completed.

The swinging bridge across the South Fork of the Holston River was built in the 1970s, connecting Riverfront Park to Domtar Park. Kingsport closed the bridge in May 2021 after city maintenance crews discovered damage in some of the wooden substructure.

Kingsport bid the project last summer, but only one bid was submitted and it came in higher than expected. A second bid process took place last fall with Inland Construction submitting the low bid of $188,900 for the project.

City Engineer Hank Clabaugh said Inland will replace all of the bridge’s existing wooden joists with new ones, while the existing chain-linked fencing and tension wire along the sides will be replaced with new, vinyl-coated green fencing.

The majority of the damage is to the wooden substructure of the bridge – the wood that’s underneath the planks/decking that people walk on. It’s deteriorated and needs to be replaced.

“When you have wood over water, it tends to degrade faster than in normal environments,” Clabaugh said. “The last time it was fixed, we put new joists beside the old ones, but now there’s not enough room to handle the additional weight so we’re going to take out the old ones and put in new ones.”

Not everything is being replaced though. The existing composite deck boards (walking surface) will be kept, as will the structural steel cables, Clabaugh added.

The existing steel towers, cables, and other structural steel components are in good condition, but will be repainted during this project.