When the Tennessee Department of Transportation decided to convert State Route 115 (Alcoa Highway)—once labeled one of East Tennessee’s busiest roadways—from a four-lane divided highway to a six-lane highway with numerous collector roads, bridges and roundabouts, the City of Alcoa chose Gresham Smith to provide utility design services to relocate existing facilities to accommodate the roadway expansion. The relocation design is being delivered in a phased approach, and consists of moving existing overhead and underground facilities serving both residential and commercial properties, as well as McGhee Tyson Airport.
In the first phase, the overhead facilities were designed with a mixture of aluminum conductor and insulated aerial spacer cable. Underground facilities included the installation of a duct bank system. In future phases, we will provide design services for multiple utility companies (City of Alcoa, City of Maryville, Atmos Energy and Charter Communications) on the remaining phases of the project. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2025.