A dispute between the primary contractor for the project, DH Excavating, LLC, and Bell & Associates Construction, LP, the bridge subcontractor, has stalled work on two new bridges that are part of the effort to alleviate flooding along First Creek in North Knoxville.

Given the contractor issues the bridge work on the First Creek Drainage Improvements Project will not be completed by November, the original completion date.

Bell & Associates, based in Brentwood and DH Excavating, of Andersonville, are currently involved in litigation in Knox County Chancery Court and there is no construction being done on the new bridges at Fairmont Boulevard and Emoriland Boulevard.

"We're caught in the middle," said Steve King, the City of Knoxville's public works director. "The work was supposed to be finished in mid-November. There is no way that will happen now."

The City recently extended the completion date to mid-January due to some unexpected issues with the excavation of subsurface rock and high water from rainfall that occurred during construction. But it's questionable whether that date can be met. The First Creek Drainage Improvements Project, Phase II, includes the bridge work and the widening of a 1,853-foot-long section of the creek's channel.

The city sent a letter to DH Excavating last week informing the company that it has until September 27, to have, "a new subcontractor on the job site with adequate forces actively engaged in the bridge work."

The letter from King to DH Excavating also indicates that he will have to approve the new subcontractor. Please contact Steve King at 865-215-6100 for further information.