Foothills Parkway

Foothills Parkway Bridges 9 and 10, as they are currently known, are located in a scenic, environmentally sensitive area with limited access in the Tennessee mountains. The Foothills Parkway is designed to provide views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and disperse traffic to relieve congestion within the central part of the park.

The bridge was originally developed by the Eastern Federal Lands Division of the National Highway Administration as a precast segmental design using the progressive placement construction method to allow “top-down construction.” During the bidding phase, PCL Construction and Finley McNary, teamed to develop a scheme that used the same “ top - down construction ” but was based on a cast-in-place segmental design using the balanced cantilever construction method. Finley McNary also provided construction engineering for the project.

The original $12.8 million contract was awarded to PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. in February of 1999. The redesign offered a faster, easier construction process, which was also significantly less expensive to the owner.

The bridges are the first two of 10 needed to complete the 1.6-mile “missing link” for the Foothills Parkway along the Blount and Sevier County line in Tennessee.