State of Tennessee bridge inspectors will be conducting routine planned inspections of four Knoxville bridges on Monday and Tuesday, June 15-16, 2020.

Motorists should anticipate traffic reroutings while the inspections are being done, including the closure on the Gay Street Bridge to vehicular traffic on Tuesday, June 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Every two years, state inspectors check the safety of the 1,512-foot-long Gay Street Bridge, built in 1898, making it the oldest of four bridges spanning the Tennessee River here. A major overhaul was completed on the historic steel spandrel-braced bridge in 2004.

During Tuesday’s inspections, cars and trucks will be detoured, but the bridge will be open to bicyclists and pedestrians.

Daytime motorists on Tuesday, June 16 should use alternative routes – Henley Street or James White Parkway – to cross the Tennessee River.

Meanwhile, Knoxville Area Transit’s Route 40 outbound bus will detour, crossing the river using the Henley Bridge and turning left onto eastbound Blount Avenue to access Sevier Avenue. The inbound Route 40 bus will follow the same streets.

Three other bridges will be inspected on Monday, June 15:

• The Woodland Avenue bridge over First Creek;

• The East Hill Avenue bridge over James White Parkway; and

• The East Fifth Avenue bridge over First Creek.