The City of Knoxville has reached an agreement with Bell & Associates Construction, LP, to complete the First Creek Drainage Improvement Project.

The project has been inactive since November when the city terminated its contract with the previous contractor, D.H. Excavating, LLC, because of a lack of progress.

The Cincinnati Insurance Company, which issued D.H. Excavating a performance bond on the First Creek project, worked closely with the city in reaching the new contract, and is one of the three parties - along with the city and Bell & Associates - that signed the settlement agreement.

As part of its obligations under the performance bond, Cincinnati Insurance Company was required to help make arrangements to complete the project if D.H. Excavating was unable to finish it. It will also cover costs over the approved budget incurred in completing the work.

Bell & Associates is expected to begin work within the next few days and anticipates completing the project in 182 days, which would be sometime in August.

The First Creek Drainage Improvement Project is part of the city Engineering Department's ongoing efforts to alleviate flooding along First Creek in North Knoxville. This phase of the work includes the construction of two new bridges at Fairmont Boulevard and Emoriland Boulevard as well as the widening of a 1,853-foot-long section of the creek's channel.

The project was originally scheduled to be completed last year but it broke down, in part, because of a dispute between D.H. Excavating and Bell & Associates, which ended up in Knox County Chancery Court. Bell & Associates had been working on the project as the bridge subcontractor.

The city later extended the completion date to January due to unexpected issues with the excavation of subsurface rock and high water early in the project.

The city requires performance bonds to protect it in the event a contractor cannot complete a project.