Project Description:

The approximate one-mile section of Kingston Pike involved in this project is one of the most trafffic critical and high profile sections of State Route 1 in Tennessee.  This project replaced a 12 inch trunk line lying in one of the traffic lanes of this four-lane state highway that carries over 30,000 vehicles per day.

The project involved replacing 4100 linear feet of 12 inch cast iron waterline with new 12 inch ductile iron pipe and approximately 800 linear feet of smaller size lines. Design challenges included developing ways to maintain existing facilities while construction was underway and the challenge to maintain and replace lateral lines crossing Kingston Pike. 

Although the normal design challenges associated with waterlines were of significant magnitude on this project, the greater challenges involved public relations and maintaining traffic.  The project section of Kingston Pike bisects the Sequoyah Hills community of Knoxville. Public hearings were held at the beginning of the project, and coordination meetings were held on a weekly basis throughout the project to facilitate communication and public feedback.  The result was a well communicated "context sensitive" project that ran well throughout.  In addition, traffic control for this project was especially complex.  Special schemes were required to safely maintain the high traffic volumes despite having to close two of the four traffic lanes for several months.