Natchez Trace

This project completes one of the final legs of the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway near Nashville, Tennessee. The bridge consists of two arches; spanning 582-ft. and 462-ft. These arches, along with intermediate piers, support the precast deck. Span arrangement includes two 204-ft. end spans, four 246-ft. typical spans and two 90-ft. intermediate spans directly over the arches.

The deck has a parabolic bottom soffit consisting of segments varying from 14-ft. to 7.5-ft. in depth. Segments weights range from 35- to 65-tons. Roadway deck elevation is 160-ft. above the valley floor with 140 ft.-tall piers, which were cast-in-place using jump forms.

The arches were erected using cable stays to support the segments until the arches were completed. The deck was erected in balanced cantilever using a ground-based crane.

Casting of the 122 arch segments and 196 deck segments began in the spring of 1992 with erection beginning in the summer of 1992.

The arches were built by PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., based on a bid of $14.3 million and were completed on March 22, 1994.