Traffic and revenue studies by CDM Smith show that tolls will support about half of the estimated $444-million cost of building a 2.4-mile bridge over the Tennessee River in Decatur, Alabama, now planned as a demand-risk DBFOM concession, the state’s first.

The new bridge would compete with an existing untolled bridge downstream that is frequently congested and carries about 45,300 daily trips. A planning level study by CDM Smith released on June 12 predicted first-year revenue for the proposed new bridge would be $8.2 million at a $2 car toll, and $6 for trucks, with inflation at 2.5%. Revenues in 2021, at the end of rampup, are estimated at about $15 million.