Renew America Success Stories

Walnut Street Bridge Restoration & Riverwalk Extension

Description

The Walnut Street Bridge Restoration & Riverwalk Extension project is a downtown revitalization project in Chattanooga that has saved Chattanooga's historic Walnut Bridge from demolition and has restored -- using trend setting environmental protection techniques -- the city's abandoned downtown waterfront area. The bridge, which previously carried vehicular traffic, has been turned into a 24-hour linear park over the Tennessee River for runners, walkers, cyclists, roller bladers and pedestrian commuters. On the south shore, what was once undevelopable highway fill has been replaced by a boardwalk and a languishing lot underneath the highway viaduct has been converted to a covered amphitheater.

By permitting only electric buses and horsedrawn carriages on the bridge, and by linking the bridge to a pedestrian-centered, revitalized downtown, the project has reduced automobile traffic and pollution while providing an attractive, safe outdoor development for the residents of Chattanooga.

In 1978, the State of Tennessee closed the old Walnut Street Bridge because it was no longer deemed safe for passage. Dating to 1891 and considered too expensive to fix, the state intended to construct a new span in its place. A group of concerned citizens, however, halted demolition when they succeeded in having the bridge listed as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

For nearly ten years the fate of the bridge remained unresolved until, in 1987, a task force of nonprofit organizations offered a comprehensive strategy for bridge restoration and downtown renewal. Through a series of well-coordinated letter writing campaigns, massive fireworks displays over the bridge, history museum exhibits, television and talk show events and presentations to the city commission, the bridge restoration committee built a broad consensus to utilize environmentally-sensitive techniques to preserve the bridge, revitalize the downtown area and offer unprecedented pedestrian access to the area.

During revitalization and construction, environmental preservation efforts included incorporating salvaged and recycled materials into construction, and the adoption of a lead-based paint removal process that protected the environment from potentially serious lead contamination.

"Many cities improve their downtowns by tearing down the old and putting up the new, but here in Chattanooga, we approach it a little differently," says Congressional Representative Marilyn Lloyd.

Completed in 1993, the project has proven to be an economic boon to the city. Where once the city was faced with the uncertainty of an unsafe, abandoned bridge and deserted waterfront area, the city now enjoys an environmentally-friendly urban renewal zone that emphasizes pedestrian access over automobile traffic and offers new restaurants, shops and galleries.

Program Highlights

Environmental Protection Initiatives

• By using steel grit as a blasting material to remove old lead-based paint instead of hundreds of tons of silica sand, the traditional material for such work, cleanup of the stripped paint was far easier. Unlike silica sand, which becomes inextricably bound to the paint, the steel grit could be recovered, dramatically reducing the amount of toxic waste material generated by the process. By reusing the steel grit in airtight containment structures, the lead paint was prevented from migrating into the water system. This was the first time such a process was used in the State of Tennessee.
• The decision to salvage and recycle old materials was made during the design process. Hundreds of tons of historic cut limestone were reused in new retaining walls and decorative exterior stairs very much in keeping with the historic character of the bridge's limestone piers, and historic wrought iron was reused during construction.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The Walnut Street Bridge Restoration & Riverwalk Extension was administered by the Riverworks & the Walnut Street Bridge Restoration Committee. In completing the project, the Committee formed numerous partnerships with individuals, agencies and organizations including the Chattanooga Downtown Alliance and Chattanooga Venture.

Budget: $4.5 million total project cost.

Community Served: The 200,000 residents of Chattanooga and its one million annual visitors. Special attention was paid to ensuring access by the handicapped to the redevelopment area through the construction of ramps, walkways and accessible water fountains.

Measures of Success:

By employing resource-efficient techniques in the restoration of the area, the city saved more than $450,000 in toxic materials burial fees.

Every day hundreds of people take advantage of the outdoor bridge and riverwalk by flying kites, bicycling, roller blading and walking.

Air pollution has been reduced through the reduction of automobiles in the downtown area.

Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Walnut Street Bridge is the oldest surviving truss bridge of its size in the South.

The project received the Federal Design Achievement Award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Success stories designed by Mark Nowak

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