TN Tension takes you inside the historic restoration of the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Originally built in the 1800s, this iconic pedestrian bridge was strengthened using cutting-edge, fiber-optic embedded external post-tensioning technology—the first installation of its kind in the United States.
In this video, TN Tension Partners Nate LaRowe and Travis Bartow, and Lead Technician Jesse Bartow break down the step-by-step engineering process of replacing aging strands, coordinating structural steel sandblasting and repainting with Southern Road & Bridge, and stressing new tendons to design loads between 17.5 and 30 kips. Learn how the strategic grouping of tendons (Groups A, B, C, and D) doubled the deck’s capacity from 45 lbs/sq ft to 90 lbs/sq ft, and see how integrated fiber-optic cables use photon scattering to deliver real-time strain and load monitoring data.
Project Partners:
• TN Tension (Post-Tension Contractors): www.tntension.com
• City of Chattanooga: chattanooga.gov
• Southern Road & Bridge: southernrb.com
• Neely Engineering: www.neelyec.com
• Sumiden Wire: www.sumidenwire.com