By Associated Press - Sunday, January 26, 2020

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) - The road across a north Alabama dam will be closed for as long as 10 months during work, the Tennessee Valley Authority said.

Crews are performing routine maintenance on three generators at the 95-year-old Wilson Dam in Florence, TVA said, so the road atop the dam will be shut down through late this year for safety reasons.

The move eliminates the easternmost route across the Tennessee River at Florence, but two other bridges nearer the town center will remain open.

Scott Fiedler, a TVA spokesman, said the work is expected to take about two weeks per generator, the TimesDaily reported.

Rather than open and subsequently close the dam road again, Fiedler said TVA decided to keep it closed after the work is completed so drivers will be able to plan ahead. The road will be repaved once the work is done.

“Once it opens, we will have a brand new surface for them to travel on,” he said.

The road improvements will help prevent water seepage, which has damaged the surface of arches on the structure. Ben Byard, director of TVA’s bridge program, said the road damage isn’t a safety hazard, but it could become a structural issue if the road isn’t repaired.

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